Rags to Riches
by Dexter1206
Summary: Vanellope von Schweet's years of being an outcast are over now that she and Ralph defeated King Candy and made her president. Now she has friends and, little known to her, the interest of a certain racer. I do not own "Wreck-It Ralph" or it's characters. Rated T for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**I really liked this movie. Mostly because I'm a huge videogame fanatic. This pairing caught my eye and I was inspired to write this. Enjoy! **

**(Vanellope's POV)**

Everyone was apologizing to me even though I said I forgave them.

Once everyone finally shut it Candlehead asked, "So, what do we do about the random roster race?"

I thought for a second and said, "We'll just have another one, duh. Besides I think that last race worked out pretty unfair." I say with a smile. "Are we all in agreement?" I ask. Everyone agrees and I'm so excited to get back on the race track. We all our karts for a quick lap to determine today's avatars.

I kept getting this weird feeling like I was being watched. I look behind me and see Rancis looking at me. I tilt my head in confusion. His face turned red, he smiled, and he looked away from me and hoped in his kart. "Huh, weird." I say to myself as I get in my kart. Why would Rancis be looking at me?

I look over again to see Rancis looking at himself in a side mirror of his kart. I roll my eyes. And he's back again. We start up our engines and watch the countdown.

3… 2… 1… Go!

I put my pedal to the floor and I passed several people up. I was leading the pack. Taffyta was on my tail until she got knocked out by a sweet seeker. Then, in my mirror, I see Rancis. I try to remain my lead. We are the only two in sight. I can win this. Then out of nowhere my kart gets stopped by a sweet heart lodged in the road. The announcer said, "Sweet Heart Stopper!" Rancis stopped next to my kart.

"See you at the finish line, _sweetheart._" He says with a grin and winks at me and zooms off. "What in the name of…" I start but, I refocus myself when I get put back on the track. I get a crate to allow myself the glitch ahead. I wait 'til I get to the finish line and see Rancis looking at himself in the mirror.

I get close and shout, "Hey Rancis McVain! Check this out!" I glitch and get first place. He looked shocked. I got out of my kart and started to celebrate. The announcer's voice rang through the arena, "Vanellope von Schweets, the winner!" I'm celebrating as I stand on my kart holding my trophy above my head and every one cheered. I've waited so long for this day.

I looked at my fellow racers cheering for my victory and then I see Rancis standing by his kart. He was leaning up against the kart with his arms crossed and giving me a smirk. Really? I just whooped Rancis's handsome, vain butt and he's actually smiling at me. What is wrong with him? Also, did I just say he was handsome? Well, I have to admit, even when he picked on me when King Candy was leader I still thought he was cute. Then, we were interrupted by a quarter alert.

Awesome! My first day as President Vanellope von Schweets.

* * *

The arcade closed and I hoped out of my kart. Tomorrow the arcade will be closed because of a new game being added. So, we all kind of get the day off.

"Hey Vanellope, we were going to hang out by the coconut grass fields. Wanna come along?" Minty asks me. "Yeah sounds awesome!" I say. It feels nice to have them as my friends. As we are walking and talking I notice something. "Where are the guys?" I ask. Taffyta takes the sucker out of her mouth smiles and says, "Just wait, you'll see." We walk along and I here talking from something other than us. I look to my right and see a sign '_Welcome to the lemonade lagoon.' _I hear a splash and laughing and shouting."Nice one Rancis!" I hear someone familiar say: Swizzle.

"Stop." I say and everyone listens to me. "I wanna see this." I say. "Me too." Sticky agrees quickly.

Soon everyone follows me. I walk through the branches and see the guys out of their racing get up and in a normal pair of shorts. They were diving off a cliff into the lagoon. "What are they doing?" I ask quietly. I hear Taffyta reply, "They're boys. When they hang out they either do something gross or something stupid." "In this case, I assume stupid." I say. "Bingo." She says and we both laugh. Then they hear us.

"Hey girls! Come to cliff dive with us or are you too scared?" Gloyd says and laughs. "Yeah right. We're not scared. We're just smarter than you." Taffyta says smugly. "Whatever, At least we know how to really have fun. Now watch this." Swizzle says and runs to the top of the cliff and does a flip off it into the lagoon. He gets Taffyta soaked. Swizzle just smiles and laughs. All three guys start laughing and I smile.

It was pretty funny.

She screamed and started crying and ran away. Everyone ran after her except me. "So, are you gonna hang with us?" A familiar voices asks. I turn around and see Rancis smiling at me with a questioning eyebrow raised. "No, I don't want to encroach in your guys' bonding." I say with a laugh.

"Rancis your turn c'mon!" Gloyd yells impatiently.

"Hold on! Well, night _sweetheart._" He says and smiles at me before walking away. I get into trees and here Gloyd say, "Finally! I thought you'd never stop talking to princess Vanellope." "She's the president you dolt." Rancis says back. "Hey let's stop talking about Rancis's girlfriend." Swizzle says mockingly.

"She's not my…" Rancis starts but, they laugh at him. I look back through the trees and see Rancis… embarrassed? Seriously, am I missing something? I walk away and catch up to the group who is trying to make Taffyta stop crying. She is such a cry baby.

Finally, we get her to stop and we spend a couple of hours in the coconut grass fields. They are amazing and I had so much fun hanging out with my new friends. We all sat in a circle and started talking.

Then Sticky says, "Think the guys are still back there?" Everyone laughs except me.

"What?" I ask Candlehead quietly.

"Sticky likes Swizzle." She snickers. I burst out laughing and everyone stares at me. "No way! You like Swizzle!" I struggle to get out between laughs and then give in and burst out laughing again. Everyone laughed even harder this time. I was on the ground holding my stomach I was laughing so hard.

After more teasing, Sticky smiles at me like she knew something. It didn't look mean just kind of humorous. I asked, "What are you looking at?" "Oh nothing. Except about you and a certain 2nd placer." She snickers. "Huh?" I say confused. "Nothing, forget I said anything." Sticky says and laughs to herself.

We finally all got tired and decided to go home. I got to the castle and Sour Bill greeted me flatly, "Good evening President Vanellope."

"Hey Sour Bill." I reply back still puzzled by what went on. He saw this and said, "What is it President?"

"Nothing, I'm just going to look around before I go to bed." I say. "As you wish." Sour Bill says in his usual tone. I walk through the halls looking for the code vault.

I need to find out something or else it's going to drive me crazy. I get into the code vault and I tie the licorice rope around myself and tie the other end to a pillar in the narrow hallway. I open the vault door and jump into the room. I search all over until I found the code I wanted: _Rancis Fluggerbutter. _

This feels wrong. I should just ask him why he is acting so weird when I'm there.

Aw, but I need to know!

I tap his code and open up his profile in his code. I scan the whole thing and everything seems normal until I see something weird under his likes section: _Likes: racing, winning, and Vanellope von Schweets. _"What?" I say to myself. I tap my name and it takes me to this brief description.

It says, '_Rancis Fluggerbutter may like himself almost as much as winning a race but, he has a special spot in his heart for the feelings he has for the leader of 'Sugar Rush', Vanellope von Schweets.'_

I quickly closed the code and got out of there. I ran past Sour Bill to my room and lay down on my bed.

I was trying to sort through it all until it all made sense. Blushing when he sees me, winking at me, calling me sweetheart. Rancis has a crush on me. I don't know whether to be happy or freaked out.

"What am I going to do?" I say to myself and put my hands over my face.

**So, what do you think? Please review and thanks for reading. (:**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for commenting. Here's chapter 2.**

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I was on my way to _Fix-It Felix Jr_ to see Ralph. Hoping he'd have some advice or at least listen to what I've realized is going on.

My encounter on the way in didn't help either...

_40 minutes ago_

I got out of the castle and went to the garage to work on my kart before I saw Ralph.

I got in and started to work on my kart. I changed my tires and I was about to look inside and check up on everything.

"Hey _sweetheart_." I heard suddenly and I jump.

I lose my balance and fall over. I look to my left and see Rancis leaning against the doorway with an amused smile on his face.

"Rancis, jeez are you trying to kill me?" I say a little too dramatic. He laughs.

"Sorry about that. So, what are you doing in here?" He asks helping me up.

"Thanks, well I'm working on my kart, doi. 'Sides I could ask you the same?" I inquire. "I came to work on my kart too. Unless, you have a problem with it?" He asks me with a playful smile and raising an eyebrow at me. I shrug and say, "Nope, suit yourself. So, where is everybody?"

"The track, practicing. Aside from you and me, of course." He says and smiles at me again. I give him a nod and walk to the front of my car to look at my engine but the hood was stuck.

Why can't this dumb hood just open?!

"Need my assistance?" I look behind me and see Rancis with a smug grin on his face with his arms crossed. I scoff at him and continue to struggle. Finally I give in.

"Fine. I need your help." I say. We both get a grip under the hood and struggle. It flings open and we fly back a little.

"Uh, Rancis are you…" I open my eyes and my face feels like a million degrees hotter. I landed right on him. His face was completely red and I was definitely sure mine was too. We both scramble to our feet and stand there awkwardly. After a long awkward silence, "Um, thank you." I say. "Nuh… no problem." He replies.

He walks to his kart and I walk back to mine. Once I see everything is in working order I decide to go. "Hey Vanellope, everyone was going to hang out at the lagoon later today and I was wonder if you wanted to come too." Rancis asks me with a smile. I felt panicked. I didn't know what to say. C'mon say something.

"I… I… I have to go. Bye Rancis." I say quickly and jump in my kart and take off for the exit.

_Present_

I got to Ralph's house and knocked.

He opened up the door and smiled at me. I jumped to give him a hug and said, "Hey Stink brain." "Hey kid, make yourself at home. Felix made this house for me yesterday." He said proudly. "Not too shabby." I say in approval as I walk around.

We sat in the kitchen and I was quiet. Ralph noticed and said, "What's eating you kid? You seem to be thinking a lot about something."

I sigh, "Well, it's about this boy…" I start and Ralph says, "Awe jeez, kid aren't you a little young for this stuff?"

"Ralph!" I say embarrassed. "Sorry, sorry, go on." He apologizes.

"Well since my game was returned to its norm, it changed some of the characters and I guess one of the guys had a crush on me before Turbo took over and he returned to having that crush on me." I explain. Ralph sighs and says, "Which one of them is it?" I fidget nervously and start, "Well, it's um… Rancis."

Ralph was silent.

"You have no idea what to say do you?" I ask. "Nope. Sorry kid. Remember, you were my first real friend after living alone in a pile of garabage for 30 years, so I'm not good with feelings. Here, I'll take you to Felix." He says and I follow him out the door.

We get to Felix's apartment and he answers the door, "Hello Ralph, how can I help you?" "Felix, Vanellope needs some advice. Mind if I leave her here to talk to you?" Ralph asks. "Of course not, come on in Miss Vanellope." We sit down and I tell him everything.

"Well, sounds like you're in a pickle here." Felix says. I nod. "Okay, Vanellope. Has this boy asked you to spend time with him?" He asked. I felt so awkward.

"Um, he invited me to the lagoon with him and the other racers later today." I say.

"Did you say yes?" he asks. "Um, actually, I didn't really answer." I admit.

"Oh my land." He says. "I was too scared because I don't really know how I really… feel about him." I explain.

"Well miss, I think you should go to the lagoon to see him. Whether you like him like that or not. The last thing you'll want is for this young man to be hurt." He says. He's right and I don't want Rancis to be sad. "Thanks Felix." I say with a small smile. "You're welcome little lady. Also, Tamora and I would like you to be a part of our wedding." Felix says. "I'd be honored." I say.

After that I decided to leave and say goodbye to Ralph. Ralph told me to do what I thought would be right and I think that going to the lagoon tonight would be right. I went back to _Sugar Rush _and headed to the lemonade lagoon.

When I got there, after I dressed for swimming, everyone looked at me and Gloyd said, "Hey look who finally decided to show up." "C'mon president join in!" Swizzle said and jumped into the lagoon.

Rancis walked up to me and he smirked and said, "So, you came." Nice to see I didn't hurt his feelings "Yup. C'mon! Last one in the lagoon's a rotten egg!" I yell and run to the lagoon. Rancis catches up and dives in. He dives in before I do. I jump in slightly after. I surface and see him with an 'I beat you' grin on his face. I push him over and he starts laughing. "Aw, c'mon no need to be a _sour_ loser." He says humorously and I smile and roll my eyes. I had a blast. I was actually glad I came.

On the other hand, Taffyta was being such a baby. All she did the whole time was complain about getting wet.

Out of the corner of my eye at one point, I saw Gloyd on top of a jawbreaker near Taffyta and the lagoon. He put his finger near his lips that were twisted into a mischievous grin. I grin back. This is going to be great. He jumps in and Taffyta gets soaked. She gasps and looks at Gloyd who was trying to play the innocent card. "Gloyd… You. Got. Me. Wet." Taffyta says through her teeth. "Um, sorry." He says and laughs a little as he gets out the lemonade pool. "You. Are. Dead!" She screams and runs after Gloyd. Gloyd is laughing while he runs from her and everyone is running to watch.

I didn't because I was laughing so hard. I stopped and I thought I was alone. Until, I got splashed.

I looked behind me and saw Rancis grinning. I smirked and splashed him back. Rancis and I splash each other back and forth for awhile and then we just laughed. We stopped and he got out of the lagoon and offered me his hand. I smiled and grabbed it. He helped me out and we then just stood there and looked at each other and he was still holding onto my hand. His eyes shined in the light and I couldn't stop looking at him. He was looking right back at me. My chest was pounding. "Va-Vanellope." He stutters. "Yeah." I manage. "Vanellope, I need to tell you something." He says nervous. "Okay. Wh-what is it, Rancis?" I ask him. Even though I know what it is. But, I'm still nervous and twitchy over it. "Vanellope, I…"

"Rancis, Vanellope!" We hear Snowana yelling.

We both withdraw our hands from each others as she comes into sight.

"C'mon you're missin' a good show!" She says and runs away. We both run after her and see all the racers crowded around what I assume are Gloyd and Taffyta.

"Gloyd, you are such a jerk!" Taffyta yells in rage.

"Oh, can it princess wa-wa. It was funny." Gloyd says and chuckles. She pushes him over and stomps away.

"Bye Taff! Nice chatting with ya!" He yells at her and smiles. He gets up and everyone starts laughing.

He walks away and everyone follows. It was getting late. I should probably get back to the castle. "Night _sweetheart_." I hear Rancis say.

"Night Rancis, what'd you wanna tell me?" I ask. "Oh nothing, it was nothing." He says. He is such a liar but, I'll ask him about it later and see if he'll finally fess up.

I just say, "Suit yourself. See ya." "See ya." He says and runs to catch up with everyone else. I know he'll say he likes me sooner or later but, I'm not worried about that.

I'm still unsure on how I feel about him.

**Give me your opinions and I hope you liked the chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the great reviews. Here's chapter 3.**

**(Rancis's POV)**

Why didn't I just tell her?

C'mon Rancis, you can't be such a coward. You're good-looking, confident, and a skilled racer. What's not to like about you?

I look at myself in the mirror in my house and smile at myself. Perfection.

Then I hear something pound on my door. "Rancis, c'mon arcade opens in 30 minutes!" Swizzle yelled. The arcade's opening! I lost track of time! "On my way!" I yell back and grab my helmet as I sprint out the door.

* * *

I was prepping my car on the track and I see Vanellope. She sees me and smiles and waves at me. Seriously, she is so pretty and she is my greatest match. I try to play it cool. I just smirk at her and give her a wink like I did during our last race. She smiles and rolls her eyes at me.

I hop in my kart and start adjusting my mirrors.

"What are you doing?" I look over and see Vanellope smiling at me. "Adjusting my mirrors so I can get a perfect view of my competition and myself." I say and smile at myself in the side mirror of my car. She laughs and says, "Seriously Rancis, you are so vain." I smirk at her and say, "I know I am."

Her face turns red and she shies away from me. She likes me. I just know she does.

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I was in the garage after a full day of racing. Rancis actually beat me once today and he was going completely mental. He got his trophy and looked over at me. I blew him a kiss just to see his reaction and because I was happy for him. He froze and his face turned redder than it usually did. It made him look even cuter.

"Pst!" I heard someone say in the garage. "Gloyd?" I say. "Shh, please let me hide in here and don't rat me out." He explains quickly.

"Why?" I ask completely confused. "You'll see in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…" He says and we heard a scream. "Gloyd!" Taffyta yelled from the other end of the garage.

She stomped over and found me, the first person in sight. She is covered in oil and feathers. I had to fight the urge to laugh.

"Vanellope, where's Gloyd?" She asks me as calmly as possible.

Taffyta was my friend now but, I wasn't going to tell her where Gloyd is. I'm not a rat. "I think I saw him walking back to Racer's Row." I say nonchalantly.

"Thank you." She says and runs in that direction.

I wait and say, "You're clear Gloyd." I say. He walks out from behind my tool cabinet. "Thanks Vanellope, I owe you one." He says as his way of thanking me. "Why do you keep on pranking Taffyta? She looks like she's this close to killing you." I inquire. "Yeah she does, but it's just so fun to see her like that." Gloyd says with a smirk. "Anyway thanks again. You're pretty cool, no wonder Rancis is whipped." He says mumbling the last part. "Huh?" I say because I wanted to make sure I heard him correctly. "Uh, nuthin'. Bye Van and thanks again." He says and does a mock salute at me before leaving the garage. Well, I guess more people know about Rancis's crush on me than I thought.

Well, tomorrow is Felix and Calhoun's wedding and I'm the maid of honor. Also, the whole arcade is invited. Meaning Rancis is going to be there but, who knows, it might be fun.

* * *

The wedding ceremony was kind of too lovey dovey for my taste but, apart from that I liked it.

They decided to throw the reception in the penthouse on top of the building in _Fix-it Felix Jr. _The party was more my thing.

Out of the corner of my I see Gloyd waving me over. What does he need me for? "What's up?" I ask him. "Dare me to ask Taffyta to dance?" He asks with a devious grin. I think about it but eventually I smirk knowingly at him. "Dare you or because you secretly want to?" I ask with a playful smile.

I can see Gloyd's crush now that I think about it. Taffyta doesn't pay attention to him. So, Gloyd pranks her to any kind of reaction he can get. Sure, its kind unconventional but I can completely tell he likes her. His face turns red and he tries to hide the truth. "Wh-what? No, no, no, no I just…" He stutters but, I say, "Look, just ask her and stop stalling you big wuss." I shove him in front of me and he goes over to ask Taffyta to dance.

The music is too loud for me to hear from that far away but, I can see her yelling at him. She takes her punch and splashes it in his face. She stomps away from him in a fit of rage. I thought Gloyd would be more upset but he walked back over to me with an amused smirk on his face. I heard him say, "And the game continues," as he walks past me.

I smile.

Then, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I see Rancis. He actually looked very nice compared to the other guys from our game, who all three of them, were here. He put on what looked like a more formal version of his racing attire.

He had a smile on his face and he said, "Hey _sweetheart_. You should wear your dress more often."

"Why, do I look nice?" I ask. "Actually you look very… beautiful." He manages and bites his lip while his face turns red. My face turns red from his compliment too. Wow, that was probably the nicest thing I've ever heard and it came from Rancis! Who woulda thought? "Thank you." I say and smile at him. He manages to smile back at me.

There was a long awkward silence then Rancis asks me with his usual confidence about him, "Vanellope, would you like to dance?"

Rancis is the best dancer of all the guys in _Sugar Rush _and it is no wonder why all the girls are jealous he's dancing with me. Most of the girls don't usually like Rancis's personality and vain-air about him but they will admit he's an amazing dancer. That is one of the few redeeming qualities that make him more tolerable than Gloyd and Swizzle. Gloyd is too much of a prankster and both Gloyd and Swizzle are both too immature most of the time. While Rancis is a little more mature. Also, why not dance anyway? It might be really fun.

"Yes, I would love to." I say with a small smile.

He didn't even hesitate to grab my hand and pull me out on the dance floor. He really did live up to and exceed what I expected. He was skilled as a racer and on his feet. He moved us in these complex steps that I didn't even think I knew how to do. He twirled me around the floor with perfection. We stopped dancing when the song slowed down. I didn't know what to do from here. Luckily, Rancis helped me with that. He put both my hands on his shoulders and put both his hands on my waist. Surprisingly, I didn't feel uncomfortable having him this close to me. Actually I felt the exact opposite.

"You're a great dancer, _sweetheart." _He whispers to me.

I laugh a little and say, "You're just saying that." "Maybe, but you're the only one I've ever liked dancing with." He says honestly.

We were silent after that and eventually the party ended and we all went home. Rancis stopped me once everyone started to head back to Racer's Row.

"Vanellope, can I walk you home?" He asks me. "S-sure, okay." I say. We walk back to my castle and when we reach the gate I say, "Rancis, thank you for dancing with me. It was really fun." I say and smile at him. "You're welcome. I had fun too Vanellope." He said with a smile.

I looked at him and decided to just go for it. I went up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

As I back away from him, he was frozen in shock. His face was redder than I've ever seen it before. "Rancis? Rancis, are you okay?" I ask.

Then, he faints. Oh great.

I try to wake him up but he was out cold and I wanted to make sure he got back to his house okay. I saw Dunkin walk by and I called him over.

"Dunkin, Rancis kinda passed out. Could you make sure he gets home okay?" I ask. "Sure thing, President. I'll make sure he gets home safe and sound." He promises.

I thank him and walk inside.

Once I get to my room, I think I know. I still may not know fully how I feel about Rancis, but I have a pretty good idea after tonight.

**Tell me your opinions and thanks for reading. Also, in my story **_**One Sweet Race**_** never happened.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the positive feedback. It really means a lot. Here's chapter 4, it's a little longer than usual.**

**(Rancis's POV)**

I looked at her from my kart at the starting line.

I can't believe she kissed me a few days ago. I still curse myself for fainting like a girl. But, she hasn't made fun of me for it so I guess I shouldn't worry about it.

One thing, actually 3, I should be mad at are; Snowana, Gloyd, and Swizzle. They have all single handedly on three different occasions destroyed my chance to tell Vanellope I liked her. Gloyd and Snowana at the lemonade lagoon and Swizzle in the garage.

Swizzle was the worst one. He did it purposefully just to make me mad.

_**The night before**_

I saw Vanellope struggling to get one of the tires of her car off.

Look, I freely admit that I can be conceited, egotistical, and a show-off but that doesn't mean I don't care. And it's Vanellope so, I have to help her.

I walked over and helped her without asking. I helped her pull of and rotate her tires. Once we got the last tire on she said, "Thanks," and gave me a smile. I smiled back at her and said, "No problem Vanellope." I look around and it looks no one else is there.

Now's my chance.

"Vanellope, I need to tell you something." I start and rub the back of my nervously. Seriously in a way I wish I didn't have this crush on her. My life would be easier. But, then again I like it because I always like the challenge as a competitor but, also because I really do like Vanellope. "Yeah, Rancis what's up?" She says like it's so easy. I have no idea if she knows how much I actually like her.

I take a deep breath and say, "Okay, Vanellope, I just have to tell you and I've been trying to tell you that…"

"Rancis, c'mon stop bugging the president. Besides you promised to hang with me and Gloyd." Swizzle says and I can feel his amused smile burning into the back of my head. I look over my shoulder and give him a glare. That complete jerk just ruined my confession!

I don't to make a scene so I say, "Be right there. I'll tell you later Vanellope." I say and force a smile to hide my anger.

Once we got outside, I wacked Swizzle over the head with my helmet.

"Ow! Rance, what's wrong with you?" He asks rubbing the spot where my helmet hit him. I was showing pure rage.

"You shut up. You ruined everything. I was about to…" I say but, he says, "Confess your undying love to Vanellope." He acts overly dramatic as he said it and laughed. I hit him with my helmet again and say, "I said shut it!" "Whoa, calm down Rancis. I'm sorry alright. It's just so easy to do that with you." He says and laughs again.

"Why not laugh at Gloyd? He can't even get Taffyta to say hi to him." I point out.

"True, but as far as I can see you have a better chance than he does so, I feel like making fun of you is just… more fun." He says with a smirk. I push him and walk away from him. "Alright, see ya Rancis!" He shouts at me. I just keep looking forward.

_**Present**_

The races went by and before I knew it, the arcade was closed. I just got done putting my kart back to pre-racing levels and Vanellope interrupts me, "Hey Rancis, nice job today."

"I know I did." I say arrogantly. She went up to me and punched me playfully in the arm.

We laugh and I say, "I mean thanks; so did you." "Much better. So, are you ready for the 'rumored' upgrade of our game?" She asks leaning on my kart.

"I'm ready for anything. Isn't it supposed to happen tonight?" I inquire.

"Yeah, 'least that's what I heard. Well, see ya tomorrow." She says with a smile that makes me forget where I was for a second.

I regain my thoughts and say, "Night Vanellope, see you tomorrow." I say with a smirk and walk out. I have no idea what this upgrade is going to do to the game but, I look forward to new challenges.

I say bring it on.

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I get back to the castle and say goodnight to Sour Bill. I finally get to my room and I try to fall asleep but, all I could think about what could happen with this upgrade.

I'm hoping for new tracks. I want something more challenging.

I think about these possibilities until I go out cold.

* * *

I wake up and look out the window of my room.

I see slight differences like a crazy looking volcano but, that was pretty much it. What is this? We got this upgrade and nothing happened except that dumb volcano. What a rip off.I shrug and I walk into the bathroom, then I notice something out of the corner of my eye in the mirror.

I turn my head. I froze. "What? What?" I stutter and finally I scream.

Sour Bill knocks on my door. "President, are you okay?" He asks flat but concerned.

"Um I. I don't know?" I stutter and continue to look what I think is me in the mirror. I changed, I changed big time. I was taller and my body was just different in general. My body was more… 'filled out' and I looked older. I was freaking out. I looked like a teenager for crying out loud! I hear Sour Bill come in. He walked up to me looking the exact same he always has and I ask, "What happened to me?"

I'm still kind of in shock. He has me sit down and explains everything. The upgrade was installed last night and created _Sugar Rush 2.0_. This included 4 new tracks and changes to the characters. The game aged us all 6 years older. I froze and said, "I'm 15? I hate this! Why can't we just have stayed as we were?"

"Look, I don't know why President. But, the arcade opens in an hour and you and the others have to race." Sour Bill informs me.

I think it over and give a defeated sigh. "You're right. I have to get ready." I say and Sour Bill leaves me alone.

My clothes for the most part were like my old ones but, with some _slight _differences. I walk out and drive my kart to the race track. Sour Bill wished me luck on my way out.

I felt better once I got to the track because at least everyone else was as old and looked just as freaked out as me. But, all I saw were the girls.

"Hi Vanellope." I look to see Taffyta was talking to me. Her differences made mine look non-existent. She had the same body type as me but she had on a white tank top and her racing jacket covered up to the bottom of her ribs and her hair looked slightly longer. "Hey Taffyta." I say. "Did this freak you out too?" She says implying the obvious. "What do you think?" I say and half laugh. "Right, that's a stupid question. Did you scream at yourself in the mirror too?" She asks. "Yeah, right when I woke up." I say and then I look around again.

"The guys aren't here yet, they released us for introductions to the new system one at a time. So far none of the guys are here." She says and continues to suck on the lollypop in her mouth. Just then the jumbotron lit up.

I looked at it and it read, _Swizzle Malarkey. _

"What was that?" I ask confused. "They show whichever racer is currently on their way to the starting line. You were up there 10 minutes ago." Taffyta explains. I look to my left and see Sticky looking nervous. "I'm guessing you have no idea what the guys look like?" I ask.

"No idea. None of us had any idea what anybody looked like until we got to the track." She says . Then we heard a kart approach the line. As I noticed with my kart this morning. Our karts looked bigger and slightly different than our old ones.

But, my Candy Kart still looked as unique as what it used to be so I was happy with that.

Swizzle got to the line and stopped his kart. We all looked at him to see what he happened to look like. My eye brows rose in surprise as he jumped out of the car and took off his helmet. Swizzle looked slightly taller than all of us. He also looked, like I put it as, 'filled out'. I felt uncomfortable saying it in my head but it was true. He did look matured and I'll say he looked good looking. Again, it felt weird but, it was true.

Sticky looked like she was on the verge of a psychotic break down. Looks like her crush on Swizzle still stood through the upgrade.

That made me think, but the Jumbotron put up another name, _Gloyd Orangeboar._

"No, not him." I heard Taffyta say in disgust. I roll my eyes and say, "Oh c'mon Taffyta. Look at Swizzle, he seems calmer. Maybe Gloyd is more laidback." I say trying to help Gloyd's cause. "Well, I'll believe that when… Here comes the annoying cavity." She says looking in the direction of the incoming cart.

Gloyd parks and hops out of his kart. He looked about the same height as Swizzle, but his helmet kind of covered his whole face so we couldn't really see what he looked like. "He better stay away from me." Taffyta says annoyed. I look at her slightly fed up with her comments about Gloyd.

I watch her still sucking on the lollypop in her mouth then her eyes widen in shock and her mouth falls open and her lollypop falls to the ground in response. I look and see the source of her shock. I could see why she was. I thought I'd never think this but, Gloyd was cuter than Swizzle. Gloyd looked… no I'm not gonna say that. It's just too weird to say that about him. I will say he was definitely more mature looking like the rest of us. He had more defined features and his hair looked different. Instead of being swept to the side it was spiked up. He still had that mischievous smirk and walked over in Taffyta and I's direction.

He got to us and said in a slightly deeper voice, "Hey Vanellope."

I had no time to answer because he walked over to Taffyta, who was behind me, who had tried to collect herself. He walked up to her and smirked at her.

"Hey Taffyta, looking perfect as usual. So, are you doing anything later?" He asks with a smirk still on his face.

"Yeah, I'm doing anything that doesn't involve you." She replies back with a smirk. "Ouch, Taff that hurts. But c'mon, I saw how you looked at me back there. Like what you see?" He asks clearly flirting with her at this point.

"Well, you look less disgusting than you used to." She says with a smug grin. "You always know how to make my day, little miss sunshine." He says sarcastically. "I will not stand here and be insulted." She says and walks away but, Gloyd stops her. I look up and see Rancis's name come up on the screen but I want to see what happens.

"Taffyta let's not fight. Can I at least wish you luck today?" He says and offers to shake her hand. She hesitates but takes it. Then, water shoots at her face. It came from this piece of candy attached to Gloyd's racing jacket and he reveals a button on his hand that caused it.

She looks at it and shoots daggers at him with her eyes. He just smirks amused at her. She pushes him and stomps away. He chuckles and yells, "Good luck to you too Taff!" He walks over to me and says, "Good luck, Van." "Thanks, you too Gloyd." I reply. "Oh, here comes butterfingers." He says looking at the final approaching kart, Rancis.

He finally gets here and hops out of his kart. Again, as tall as the other guys but, he took off his helmet and my face felt like it was on fire and my mouth fell open slightly. Cute was no longer a word that described Rancis anymore but I searched for the word that worked to describe him. He was… hot. Wow, that's a word I've never used to describe anyone before. I watched as Rancis looked at himself in the side mirror trying to fix his hair. Well, he was still vain so that hasn't changed. His hair looked slightly shorter and more manageable than his old hairstyle. I kind of liked it.

I saw Gloyd left to talk to Rancis and they did this weird hand shake thing before Gloyd pointed me out to Rancis. He looked over at me and froze. Gloyd laughed and patted Rancis on the back. I gave him a smile and a wave. He walked over to me but, tripped and fell on the way over. I ran over to help him up.

"Thanks _sweetheart._" He says, his voice sounding slightly deeper, with a smirk that made me blush.

"Wow, Vanellope you look… just wow." He says shocked. "I look wow?" I question raising an eyebrow. "I. I mean you look pretty." He says nervous.

"Thanks you look nice yourself. Well, good luck. I'll talk to you when the arcade closes okay?" I say. "Deal, see ya later _sweetheart._" He says and winks at me before returning to his kart.

I felt strange since I saw the new Rancis. It was a good strange though. At least I think it's good. But then I couldn't think anymore because we had to report to our karts.

I'll try to sort through these thoughts later. It looks like we're on a new track so, I really need to focus.

**Please leave a review and thanks again for reading. (:**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks so much, I appreciate every bit of feedback I got. It really means a lot to me when I hear positive comments about my story. Thanks again. (:**

**(Rancis's POV)**

I had to admit, I didn't know how I would feel about this upgrade to the game but when I saw Vanellope, how she is now, I felt like my feelings for her only increased. She looked so… beautiful. Who am I kidding, she's hot.

Also, I saw her looking at me every second she could today. Finally, she's actually noticing me now!

I see her exiting the garage and I decide to make my move.

"Vanellope, wait up!" I call after her. She turns around and smiles at me. At that moment my legs felt like they were about to give out as I ran toward her. Finally I caught up to her and lean up against a candy cane tree. "Hey _sweetheart._" I say and give her a crooked smile. "Hey Rancis, what's up?" She asks and I can see a blush on her face.

Yes! She has to be into me!

"Look Vanellope, I saw you this morning and I couldn't help but notice there seemed like there was something there… Vanellope, I…" I start but I was interrupted, "Hey kid!" I unknowing break a small branch off the tree out of rage. Oh for the love of… what now? I am so sick of people ruining it!

"Ralph!" Vanellope says back happily. "Rancis, can I talk to you later?" She asks me with an irresistible smile. "Ye-yeah, I'll talk to you later." I say and give her a smirk before turning to walk away.

I swear that I will tell her by any means necessary.

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I could tell Rancis was mad. Not at me, but people always interrupting our conversations. I'll try to apologize later but, I want to talk to my first best friend.

"Stink brain. What's going on?" I ask.

"Well, I saw your game got upgraded and I decided to stop by for a visit and kid… Well, I don't even know if I can even call you kid anymore." He says confused.

"Ralph, I'm technically 15 so, you could still call me kid." I point out. "I guess, I'm sorry if I interrupted you and fancy man over there." He says.

"Rancis, and it's fine I can talk to him later. But, thanks for stopping by Ralph. Come by more often. I like seeing Ralph my main man." I say and offer to shake his hand like I did what seemed like a million years ago.

"You got it. See ya kid." He says and shakes my hand and then he walks out.

* * *

I decided to just spend the night by myself on my balcony outside my room. I like to do this because I get a great view and it is very quiet. Sometimes as president, I need quiet. I saw Racer's Row and I wonder what everyone else is up to.

"Vanellope." Am I crazy or did I just hear something?

"Vanellope!" There it is again!

"Vanellope, wall, lattice, look down." Is that Rancis? I follow the weird instructions and see Rancis halfway up this lattice of Redvines leading up to my balcony.

"Rancis?" I call out incredulous. "Hey just hold on. I'm coming up." He says still in the process of climbing.

I help him over the railing. I look at him shocked and say, "Rancis, are you nuts? You could've just knocked on the front door. You didn't have to climb up to my balcony." "I thought about it but, that seemed too easy. Besides, I wanted to make sure… we were _alone_." He says and holds my hands.

My breathing became uneven. "Um, why did you want to see me alone?" I ask and I can feel my face heat up. Is he finally gonna say it? "Vanellope." He says in a voice that makes me nervous but I liked it. I look at him and he looks so… I don't even know. I felt his hand touch my cheek. I couldn't even say anything. He leaned in and kissed me. I could not believe it. Rancis is kissing me?

He's kissing me!

**(Rancis's POV)**

I've waited so long to do that and I did it.

This is probably the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, next to winning the random roster race awhile back. I didn't want to let her go and I was really shocked when I felt her arms wrap around my neck to hold me there. Yes! I knew she wanted me!

Eventually I broke away and said, "Vanellope, I really, really like you." She half laughs and says, "Really? I never would have guessed." I chuckle in response.

"Anything else you'd like to declare?" She asks. "No, just want to do this again." I say and kiss her again.

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I never really thought much of kissing and boys until now. But, I decided that I _really_ like it. I didn't want him to leave but I probably needed to get some rest for tomorrow. It's Friday tomorrow and that means the arcade will be packed. He broke away from me again and I pouted at him.

He laughed a little and said, "_Sweetheart_, as much as I'd love to stay. I should probably go home. But, I'll see you at the track tomorrow, okay?" He assures softly.

I nod and smile at him. He lit up and kissed me quickly and said, "Goodnight." My heart felt like it was going to stop. "Night." I say softly and blush again. He smirks at me, and then I watched as Rancis disappeared over my balcony.

I walked back into my room and I could no longer feel confused over Rancis. I do like him. As I climb into bed, all I could think about was Rancis and what happened on the balcony.

* * *

"Morning Vanellope." I heard behind me in the garage. I looked and saw Gloyd smirking mischievously at me.

"Hey Gloyd, what's up?" I say nonchalantly.

"Nothing, I was just wondering what you did with butterfingers last night." He asked with that grin still there. My face turned red and I bit my lip. "That's right. I know. I got him to spill the details when I saw him walking into Racer's Row last night like an idiot. You seriously do have him whipped." He says and chuckles.

"What, you mean like how Taffyta has you whipped?" I say with a smirk. "Hey miss President. Don't turn this on me. Besides, I'll get her to crack sooner or later." He says with a smirk.

"Look, do you promise to keep it a secret." I say. "Yeah, you didn't rat on me that one time. I owe you this. But, I don't know about Swizz. He might blab." Gloyd warns. "Swizzle knows too? Great." I say the last part under my breath. "Hey he pointed out Rancis walking around the block like a confused, whipped moron. Then, we both hassled him until he told us that you guys made out." Gloyd explains.

"Well enough about that. I heard something about you and the girls having a party tonight." Gloyd says. "Yeah, just a girls night to hang out at my castle. Girls only though, sorry." I say with a smirk and shrug.

"S'okay. You can thank your _boyfriend_ for us not interfering with your party. He said that if Swizz and I tried to pull something to screw it up he'd hang us by our feet from a branch in the candy cane forest. But, we have our own plans for tonight. Also, tell Taffyta I say hi. See ya Van." He says and salutes me before walking out.

"See ya Gloyd and I'll try." I say with a smirk.

I have respect for Gloyd's determination. Taffyta is always so harsh towards him but in her defense, Gloyd's pranks can be ridiculous.

"Vanellope."

"Huh." I say as I look over to see Jubileena was talking to me. "C'mon we're starting the random rooster race in 15 minutes." She informs me.

"Oh yeah, on my way out." I say and hop in my kart. Today is going to be exciting, I just know it.

* * *

I was waiting for the girls to show up and all I could think of was what happened earlier. It made me feel angry and embarrassed at the same time…

_**After the arcade closed**_

Rancis told me to meet him behind the garage when the arcade closed. I walked back to see Rancis waiting with his helmet in hand. He looked absolutely gorgeous.

I would never tell him that unless I was forced to. His ego doesn't need to get any bigger than it is.

He sees me and gives me _that_ smile. I feel like my legs have a mind of their own as I walk toward him. I almost fall over but luckily he holds me up. I look up into his eyes. His eyes are amazing. The sun setting makes the blue color of his eyes more vibrant.

"Hey beautiful." He says and kisses me. I got mad that it was a short kiss.

"Nice to see you too Rancis. Just kiss me." I say and lean in closer. He laughs and says, "Whatever you say, _sweetheart_." He says and goes to kiss me.

Why do I have to like this so much? Oh whatever. I just wrap my arms around his neck and enjoy it.

After awhile, I started to hear snickering and laughing. Rancis noticed too and we looked behind us to see Swizzle and Gloyd standing there smirking at us.

"Rancis, stop sucking face with your girlfriend we have to go." Swizzle says with a smirk.

Rancis kisses me as a way of saying goodbye and walks over to Gloyd and Swizzle. Then, Rancis takes his helmet and hits Swizzle over the head.

"Ow, Rancis. We're sorry okay." Swizzle says rubbing his head. Rancis looks over at Gloyd and holds his helmet up to him. Gloyd holds up his hands and says, "Sorry man, no need to get violent here buddy."

"Why am I friends with you guys again?" Rancis asks slightly annoyed still. "Well, we annoy you but you hang out with us anyway. So, you tell us." Swizzle says. "Whatever, I'll be mad at you guys later. C'mon boys let's go have some fun." Rancis says and goes off to head out with Gloyd and Swizzle.

Not before he turned around to wink at me before he leaves.

_**Present**_

Now, Rancis's threat to hang them upside down in the forest makes more sense. I had to admit when I saw Rancis hit Swizzle with his helmet, I laughed inside. Rancis is a really good guy deep down for looking out for me in a way. I really liked it.

"President, your guests have arrived." I hear Sour Bill inform me. I turn around and say, "Thanks Sour Bill, send them in." He nods and walks out. Then all my friends poured in. We drank soda and started talking and laughing. Eventually, of course, the conversation went to the boys.

Of course most of the girls, especially Sticky, talked about Swizzle.

But, then Minty says something that I was about to say, "Hey this may just be me but, I think Gloyd is as or more good looking than Swizzle." "Minty, are you crazy?" Sticky says shocked. "Actually now that I think about it; I know there are those who agree with me." She says and glances at Taffyta.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding. I have zero interest in that annoying, repulsive cavity." Taffyta says.

Candlehead does a fake cough and says under her breath, "Bologna."

"What was that Candlehead?" She asks.

"Taff, you are being the biggest liar ever. You obviously like Gloyd. I see you secretly checking him out in the garage and I saw… well, maybe we should show everyone what happened during the random roster race this morning. Vanellope, you have the footage, right?" Candlehead asks with a devious smirk.

"Of course." I say and smirk back. I never saw it but I bet it's good.

"You wouldn't!" Taffyta says looking scared. "Oh yes, we will." Candlehead says with a mischievous grin. "Okay, random roster race starting in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." I say then I start the clip.

Taffyta was pale and trying to hide behind her knees.

_The race started and it was me and Taffyta jockeying for 1__st most of the race__. Then, Swizzle hits her with a sweet seeker. It was a great hit. Taffyta went flying out of her kart but that's all I saw. Then, I saw what I didn't see. Taffyta flew screaming through the air and then unexpectedly landed in Gloyd's lap while he was racing. Candlehead was right behind them so I guess that's how she knew. Taffyta was in shock but didn't look repulsed at all. Gloyd's eyes were visible while he wore his helmet and you could see him looking shocked yet obviously pleased that Taffyta happened to 'dropped in'. Then, Gloyd's distraction got the better of them and they flew over a cliff holding onto each other while Taffyta screamed and Gloyd just looked freaked out._

I stopped it and Snowana started laughing and then all of us joined in. "Shut up!" Taffyta says her face turning red.

"Oh c'mon Taff, just admit that you think Gloyd is hot." Candlehead says with a smile.

"Well, um… What about you Vanellope? Have anything you'd like to share with us. Maybe something that happened last night." She says with a vengeful smirk. My face turns red and everyone stares at me. I'm busted.

"Who… who told you?" I ask nervous.

"No one had to. I figured it out when I saw Rancis walking home late last night." She says knowingly. Crud, she definitely knows.

"You know what, fine. Rancis kissed me yesterday." I say and tell the story of Rancis climbing up to my balcony and us making out there. They all exploded into 'ooohhhs' as my face felt like it was burning.

"Well, Rancis did have that huge crush on you so no surprise there. Uh, you are so lucky. Hope you don't mind me saying but, Rancis is so hot to the point of perfection. He's just so incredibly vain." Crumbelina said. "He's not vain all the time. Just most of the time." I say and it makes everyone laugh.

"So how was it?" She asks. "Honestly… It was amazing." I say actually being completely honest.

Everyone freaks out again and once they stopped I said, "Okay, enough about me. Taffyta, just admit you like Gloyd already." I say to her.

"I'd rather be torchured slowly." She says in disgust.

"That's not what I was seeing when I saw you watching Gloyd working on his kart when he took off his jacket." Candlehead says and Taffyta gives her a look before blushing and hiding behind her knees again.

We all laughed again.

* * *

I said bye to everyone and decided to turn in. It was really fun and I just can't wait to see how Gloyd is going to make Taffyta _crack_. This is going to be so good.

**Whew! That was another long chapter. Thanks for reading and please leave a review. Thank you.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I lied, I'm putting up this chapter because I finished it early. This chapter starts when the guys go to hang out Friday night and continues into Saturday morning.**

**(Rancis's POV)**

"I still want to run both of you over for what you did." I say and glare at both of them. I guess 10 minutes could technically count as me getting mad later. "C'mon Rance, We're sorry okay. But, you were kissing her behind the garage so it wasn't really that hard to find you." Swizzle pointed out. I scowl at them.

"Rancis lighten up. We can't let the girls have all the fun at their stupid party. Let's go do something." Gloyd says and points to the jump that I crashed into the cupcake from.

That was one of the worst days ever. I was trapped for 20 minutes on a cupcake, with Taffyta crying and Candlehead complaining to me about her candle burning out and then crazy looking bugs attacked us. Taffyta and Candlehead are my best friends don't get me wrong; they just happened to create my own personal hell.

I put on a smile and throw on my helmet and say, "Let's jump it." "There's my best friend. C'mon let's do this!" Swizzle says overly enthusiastically as we jump in our karts and drive off.

We get to the jump and I was about to go but, Swizzle cut in front of me and yelled, "Me first boys!" Then, he laughed like a lunatic as he flew off the edge of the jump. "And Swizz the madman returns." Gloyd says. Swizzle is the definition of an adrenaline junkie.

"I'm going before I'm too late to catch up with 'nutcase' up there." I say and hear Swizzle still laughing like a crazy person before I reeve the engine and take off. I flew off the jump and I feel so alive. I just don't act psychotic about the rush like Swizz. Gloyd lands close behind me. We try pulling that same stunt several more times and eventually we get bored with it.

"What now guys?" Swizzle asks bored out of his mind.

"How 'bout hanging at the lagoon like old times?" Gloyd suggests. "Okay by me." I say and we all head over to the lagoon.

We grab our swimming stuff at home first though. I get a look at myself in my new orange trunks and I seriously wish Vanellope could see me. Not to assume anything but, she'd be pretty red in the face if she saw me. I smirk at that thought and walk out to go to the lagoon with Gloyd and Swizzle.

Swizzle lights up when he see's our diving cliff is higher, by a lot.

"Sweet, me first!" Swizzle yells and runs to the top of the cliff, jumps, and does two flips into the lemonade pool.

It looked pretty awesome so me and Gloyd decided to give it a go. We were having more fun than we had at the lagoon in years. We waded in the water and then, we heard rustling in the trees. We started hearing girls' voices laughing and talking.

"Looks like the girls are heading home." I say and Gloyd gets a devious smile on his face. I have no idea what he's thinking. He puts a finger up to his lips and jumps out the water and runs into the woods.

"Hey ladies." He says and the talking stops dead. "Why is everyone quiet? Me and the guys are just having a midnight swim." He states. I'm guessing the girls are quiet because of Gloyd in nothing but a pair of green swim trunks. "What about you Taff? Would you like to join us?" He asks. His tone changing to a flirting one. "This is gonna be good." Swizzle says and we laugh but we stop because we want to hear what happens.

"No way." Taffyta says annoyed.

"Well, that's too bad… Cuz you're going anyway." Gloyd says and we hear a shriek and Taffyta yelling, "Gloyd! Gloyd! Stop!" Gloyd came running in holding a very resistant and irritated Taffyta in his arms bridal style. He stops at the edge and is smirking at Taffyta struggling and yelling at him.

"Gloyd Orangeboar, put me down right now!" She screams.

Gloyd smiles and says, "Whatever you say babe." And he throws her into the lagoon and jumps in after her. Swizzle and I were shocked but, we laughed when we saw Taffyta surface and give Gloyd the best death glare I've ever seen. She looked at us and we stopped. She looked back at Gloyd.

I heard the girls snickering and making side comments of what's going on. I didn't even know they were here watching. Eh, don't care. I keep watching and Taffyta slaps him and she gets to shore then stomps away. "Taffyta, stop by my house! It's open and I'll be home in a little bit!" Gloyd shouts at her. The girls laugh and follow Taffyta.

"Brilliant." Swizzle says and high fives Gloyd. "I wouldn't count on Taffyta stopping by your house though." I say and Gloyd smirks.

"I can hope can't I? Besides, she'll admit she likes me sooner or later. Ha! You should've seen her face when she saw me in my trunks. She wants me." He says and with a confident smirk.

Me and Swizzle burst out laughing.

* * *

The guys and I decided to go to sleep. I hope I can tell Vanellope about what Gloyd did tomorrow morning. She'll be crazy if she doesn't think it's funny.

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I was about to walk into the garage when Rancis stepped in front of me.

"Morning." I say and I go up to kiss him. He doesn't even hesitate to kiss me back. I pull away and ask, "So how was your guys night?"

He laughs and says, "You missed the best show ever."

He tells me the story of them at the lagoon and Gloyd flirting with Taffyta and throwing her in the lagoon. Then to top it all off Gloyd asked Taffyta if she wanted to stop by his house later. I burst out laughing.

"No way! I always miss everything." I say disappointed but I laugh. "Well, stop by the Row more often and hang… Here comes Taffyta." He says and I turn around and start to talk to her. We walk into the garage. It's earlier than usual. So, the garage is still empty.

We walk in and then I hear Gloyd. "Morning Taff, you didn't stop by last night." He says leaning in the doorway of his area.

She gives him a hard look and grabs him by the ear. Gloyd winces. "You're coming with me." She announces. "Don't either of you follow or so help me." She adds looking at me and Rancis with glares. We were too freaked out to speak so we just nod. "Okay, buddy. We're gonna talk." Taffyta says pulling Gloyd along by the ear.

Rancis and I stood there frozen and confused.

**(Gloyd's POV)**

"Ow, ow, ow, ow…" I wince as the girl of my dreams is dragging me into the forest by my ear. "Shut up, you don't deserve to complain." She says irritated.

Is it strange that deep down I kinda like this?

We get to a certain point and she releases my ear. I rub it to get the feeling I lost back. "Ow, I kinda need both my ears Taff." I say still rubbing my ear.

I look up at her and she looks pissed. She is so hot when she's mad.

"I don't care Gloyd. You should care that you embarrassed me in front of almost everyone and…" She says poking me in the chest with her finger. I really wasn't listening anymore. Seriously she's the hottest girl ever and I have her all alone.

I grabbed her hand that kept poking me in the chest with my hands. She looked at me shocked and stopped talking. "What are you doing?" She asks with wide eyes. I use one of my hands to brush back a strand of her hair. She slaps my hand away.

"Oh c'mon Taff. Why do you have to be that way?" I ask with a smirk. She ignores me but I can see her blushing just like she did last night.

I know I have her.

"Taffyta, when are you going to stop denying me? I know you want me." I say determined. "Really? How do you know that?" She inquires trying to be defiant.

I smirk and say, "I see the way you look at me in the garage, at the lagoon last night, and you didn't seem that repulsed when you landed in my kart with me. So, just admit it." She bites her lip then regains her composure. She rips her hand out of mine and runs away.

"You can't run forever! I will get you to say it Taffyta Muttonfudge!" I shout after her.

One way or another I will get her to admit it.

**Hope you liked the chapter and please review. (:**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you all so much. This is going to be a major GloydxTaffyta chapter. Hope you like it. (:**

**(Taffyta's POV)**

I made sure everyone was gone in the garage. I wanted to be alone. I had what happened this morning on my mind all day. How is Gloyd getting to me? Why does he have to be so good looking now? Looking into his eyes, those georgous golden-brown eyes. Ugh, Taffyta stop it! You're pathetic! Uh but he's also taller and he is very defined from what I saw last night. I was so close to just letting him have what he wanted but I wasn't going to show weakness.

I can't admit I like Gloyd Orangeboar period. "Hello Taffyta."

Damn.

"Go away Gloyd." I say irritated.

"That's not a very nice way to treat a gentleman who is just making polite conversation, Taffyta." He says with that arrogant humor to his voice. "Gentleman? What kind of gentleman sets up a trap to throw oil and feathers at a girl for fun?" I ask looking him right in the eye and cross my arms.

He walks up to me and laughs. "Maybe that is true but, you brought it on yourself." He says. I was confused. "What have I ever done to you to be tormented?" I demand. "You ignored me Taffyta. I never wanted to fly under your radar." He says still walking toward me. I keep walking back.

"Why Gloyd?" I ask but my back hits a wall. Then, he traps me there by putting his arms on either side of me.

Crap, I'm done.

He just looked at me. I wasn't disturbed as much as intrigued. His eyes were looking right at mine.

He took his arms away and my mind kept screaming at me 'Run! Run now!' But, I just kept watching him.

He took off his racing jacket and threw it into a corner of my area of the garage. I could feel my weakness pouring out of me for him to see. I ignored my mind yelling at me. I was completely focused on this guy in a shirt that fit _perfectly._ He put his arms back on either side of me. I kept eyeing him over.

He leaned into my ear and whispered, "Taff, I'm not off limits. You can touch me." He put himself back to where he was and looked at me. My hand felt like it had a mind of its own. It went from his face to his arms and my hand stopped at his chest. I could feel his heart beating. Then, I felt his hand go under my chin and he made me look up at him. He looked right into my eyes.

Seriously, Gloyd is not acting like Gloyd. "You have beautiful eyes, Taff." He says and then, my eyes widen in shock.

He kissed me. He pulled away to look at me again. "Ya-yo-you kissed me." I say still in shock. "Yeah, I did." He says and kisses me again.

My mind was screaming that I should be disgusted. My mind is ordering me to slap him and run like I did yesterday. But, I ignored it. In some psychotic way, this feels right. I wanted this for some reason. His hands were on my waist as he continued to kiss me. Then, I felt his hands move up to my shoulders and he pulled off my racing jacket and it fell to the floor. He moved his hands up and down my arms for a while then moved to them to my waist again. I felt like I was going against every strong opinion I had but, I didn't care for some reason.

I wanted more. I wrapped one of my arms around his neck and I ran one of my hands through his hair. He let out a sigh and I felt the intensity increase. He released my lips and kissed my neck. I was gasping for air. It felt so good but, my mind was telling me I should be disgusted with it.

"Hey Taff." He said in between kisses.

"Ye-yeah." I manage.

He stops looks at me with a smirk, "_This_ is why?" He kisses me again.

He goes to kiss my neck again and he says, "Taffyta, please tell me. Tell me what I want to hear." I am able to get some ability to resist. "N-no." I manage.

"Say it." He says with a slight intensity to his voice. His eyes burned into me. I don't know what happened next. I just ducked and ran from him.

What did I do? He's annoying and immature and… hot… oh what did I do? I don't know what I should feel. I made out with Gloyd and… I actually liked it. I felt this rush from it. I need to talk to someone. Someone who is least likely to ridicule me and understand what I'm talking about. I run to the castle.

**(Vanellope's POV)**

"President, Taffyta Muttonfudge is here. She says it's urgent." Sour Bill says shaking me awake.

"Ugh, okay. This better be important to wake me up this late." I say getting up.

I walk downstairs and see Taffyta's face drained of life. She looked frozen as she sat on a sofa in the parlor of the castle. "Taffyta?" I say. She looks at me.

"What is it?" I ask. She looked at me and said, "I did something." "Yes but wha…" I start but I come to the realization. "You kissed him, didn't you?" I say shocked. "Kissed, well, more like… made out in the garage." She says biting her lip.

She tells me the whole story and looks like she's about to lose her mind. "Vanellope, please. You have to help me." She pleads.

I think then take a deep breath. "Taffyta, your problem is that you are too busy connecting the old Gloyd with the new Gloyd that you don't know what to think." I explain. "What do you mean by that exactly?" She asks. "I mean that you like the new Gloyd but your mind is getting in the way by deceiving you that he's still the old Gloyd. I mean he's not done with pranks but he is better than he used to be. You know besides throwing you in the lagoon." I say trying to be good friend. She manages to smile at me.

"Feel better?" I ask. She nods.

"Good, now answer this: do you like him? Try not to listen to your mind and I know this sounds cliché and stupid but, what does your heart say?" I ask and before she could answer. There was a knock at the door. I see Sour Bill going to get it but I stop him. I walk up to the door and ask, "Who's there?" "Van, it's Gloyd." Gloyd says actually sounding worried. He probably followed Taffyta. "Look Van, I saw Taffyta walk into the castle. Can I talk to her?" He asks.

I look behind me and I see Taffyta take a deep breath before walking up to me. She nods.

I look back the door and I say, "She's on her way."

**(Gloyd's POV)**

I hope I didn't piss her off too bad. She just ran away like a bat out of hell and I just wanted to see if she was okay. Although, I prank her and piss her off constantly, I do care about her. I held her jacket in my hand. I want to at least give it back to her. The door opens and Taffyta walks out and the door shuts behind her.

"Look Taff, please don't kill me I just…" She grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me down and kissed me. I was confused but I wasn't going to complain that the girl of my dreams kissed me by her own choice. We broke apart and I said, "Not that I'm complaining but what was that?"

"Because, even though I think you're annoying and a complete pain; I like you Gloyd." She says and I feel like I might explode. She said it! "I knew it." I say and kiss her again. Then the door opens. Vanellope is standing there in her pajamas. "Is everything good?" She asks. I grin and nod. "Great! Now go home and stop the PDA in front of my house." She says and slams the door. "Geez, lighten up Schweets." I say to the door. After that I gave Taffyta her jacket back and she actually let me hold her hand on the way back to the Row.

I walked her up to her door. "Here." She says and pulls me inside her house and kisses me. "Good night, now go home." She says trying to make me leave.

I smirk deviously at her. Why not annoy her one more time?

"Hey Taff I just got here. Nice place by the way." I say and walk around and I see her giving me _that _look. I look around and find her room. I see her bed and just make myself comfortable. "No, no, no, out." She says pointing to the door. "Aw c'mon. Can't I stay the night?" I ask smirking slyly at her.

"No Gloyd. Get off _my_ bed and get out of _my_ house before someone sees you." She says pulling me by the wrist to her front door. "Who cares if someone sees me?" I ask. "I do. No offense but I can't let everyone see you walking out of my house or my life will become hell now leave." She says then let's out a sigh and continues, "If I kiss you will you leave?" "Maybe." I say slyly and she kisses me. I still don't know if this is real or not.

After the kiss, she pushed me out the door. I got back home and threw myself on my bed. I put my arms behind my head and I felt the biggest, stupidest smile stuck to my face.

Then, I said completely relaxed now, "Mission accomplished."

**(Rancis's POV)**

I walked into the garage and thought I was the first one here. "Stop before someone sees us!" Someone whispered kind of loudly.

Taffyta?

"Does it look like I care? Besides you don't want me to stop, do you?" Is that Gloyd?

I try to be light and quick on my feet to follow the sounds. I get to Taffyta's section and look into her area. I saw shocked by what I saw. Gloyd was kissing Taffyta and she was letting him. Also, she looked like she liked it. Well, if this happened, then hell definitely froze over.

I walked a little more into the door way and cleared my throat. Right away Taffyta broke away and her face was red.

"Rancis, uh! This isn't what it looks like!" She says trying to deny what she did. "Well to me it looked like you making out with him." I say and smirk at her.

Gloyd was just grinning at her. I think he was happy he got caught in some messed up way. She looked back him and said miffed, "I told you to leave you idiot." "Aw you don't mean that, do you Taff?" He asks and tries to kiss her again but, she pushes him away and she runs past me. I watch her run and then I hear Gloyd chuckling.

I looked back at him with a smirk and said, "So you finally wore her down." "All that and more. She likes me. She told me last night. With your girlfriend's help." He says proudly. "Vanellope, knows about this?" I say shocked. "Yeah, she was the first one. But, you guys are the only ones that know. I'm not gonna tell anyone about this but if they see us then… well I don't care." He says with a half laugh.

He told me not to tell anyone. Not even Swizz. Because, if anyone was told about him and Taffyta, she would not be a pleasant person to deal with for Gloyd. So, I agreed not to say anything.

I went to my area and worked on my kart. Then, I felt hands on my shoulders and a kiss on my cheek. I look at my girlfriend and I smiled and said, "Morning _sweetheart._" I gave her a kiss.

Vanellope leaned up to my ear and whispered, "Taffyta said you know." "Yeah, but I promised Gloyd I would not tell anyone. So tell Taffyta to get her panties out of a wad and not go ballistic on Gloyd." I say and she laughs. "I told her you wouldn't blab but, does she listen to me, no." She says and smiles and rolls her eyes.

Vanellope hung out with me until she had to go and prep her kart. "Bye Butterfingers." She says with that irresistible smile. "Good luck, _sweetheart. _I'll talk to you later." I say and kiss her good bye. Gloyd and Swizzle are right. I am completely whipped but who cares.

I'm not afraid to admit to myself that I'm in love Vanellope von Schweets.

**What did you all think? Please leave a review and thanks again.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks again for all the amazing comments. I love to hear from you guys. Well, hope you like this chapter.**

**(Rancis's POV)**

I got home after I walked Vanellope back to the castle and saw a note stuck to my door.

_Be at Tappers by 7:00 pm._

It wasn't signed which was weird but I assumed it was either Gloyd or Swizzle. I shrug. I guess I'll go. I'm not doing anything.

I make my way over to _Tappers_. I have a seat and Tapper puts a root beer in front of me. "Compliments of Ralph." He says and points behind me. I look and see Wreck-It Ralph sitting at another section of the bar nodding me over. I raise an eyebrow but grab my drink and walk over and sit next to him.

"Nice to see you got here on time." He says and takes a drink. "You left the note?" I say confused.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you um…" He says but I say my name, "Rancis." "Sorry kid. Rancis, I need to talk to you about you and Vanellope." He says. "I look out for her and I see the way she looks at you and you look at her." He continues. "Ralph, I swear I would never do anything hurt her." I say sure of myself.

"I just find that hard to believe after the way all of you used to pick on her. I still worry about her." He says. "Ralph, I always regret what I did. But, I'm different now. Now, I want to repay everything I did by making her happy. I love her." I say honestly. "Geez kid, you really care about her that much?" He asks kind of taken back by my answer. "Yeah, I would do anything to make her happy." I say and look at my root beer. "Well Rancis, if you want to make that a promise. Then you have my full trust with her." He says and offers to shake my hand. "Thank you." I say and shake his hand. I talk with Ralph for a while and he's actually a nice guy considering everything.

"Bye Rancis, it was nice talking with you." He says and shakes my hand again. "Thanks Ralph, Likewise." I say with a smile and shake his hand.

We both return to our games and I felt better now that I know that I have Ralph's approval. He's her best friend and I wanted to show him that I was going to take care of her.

* * *

It was late by the time I got home. I heard something rustling. I look to my right and see Gloyd looking into Taffyta's bedroom window. Her house is across from mine. I roll my eyes and shake my head. Does he have a death wish?

"Hey Gloyd." I say with a condescending smirk. "Shut up Rancis. I'm trying to see my girlfriend." He says and continues to look into the window.

"Don't you think Taffyta wouldn't really like the fact that her boyfriend is being a peeping tom?" I ask with an eyebrow raised.

"Hey I'm not that sick! I've never seen her change or anything. She does that in her bathroom." He says.

"Okay, I don't know what's creepier. The fact you're spying on her or the fact that you know her personal daily agenda?" I say slightly weirded out.

"Look man, you have no idea how much my life sucks. At least your girlfriend isn't embarrassed to be seen with you. I haven't been able to be with her in a week. So, I do whatever I have to." He says looking pathetic and slightly crazy. "Geez Gloyd, you're desperate." I say.

"You have no idea. Now go away she'll be back any second." He says trying to wave me off. "Okay see ya." I say and walk across the street to my house.

I feel kind of bad for Gloyd and I just hope he doesn't get caught or Taffyta will rip him apart.

**(Gloyd's POV)**

Taffyta walked into her room and I gripped her window sill as I watch her get into bed. I'm so pathetic.

But, I need her.

Her lights go off and this is when I usually go home but I couldn't take it anymore. I was going to spend time with her whether she wants to or not. I wait until I'm sure she's sleeping. I try her window and I'm so happy when I realized it's unlocked. I climb in and walk over to her bed. I put my hand on her cheek. I got a rush just from this. God I'm sad.

She started stirring and her eyes opened up. Crap! I'm dead. Quick Gloyd think! "Gloyd, what are…" I cover her mouth with my hand. And I climb on her bed and try to hold her down. She was putting up a fight though. She's stronger than you'd think.

"Taff, please. I need to be with you." I plead and uncover her mouth to let her speak. "Gloyd, get out." She says.

"Please let me stay?" I say trying to get my way. "There is nothing you can do to make me let you stay." She says. I think.

There has to be something I can do. Wait, the lagoon.

I smile at her as I sit up. "Gloyd what are you…" She says but she shuts up and blushes when she sees me take off my shirt. I've got her now.

**(Taffyta's POV)**

He just looked down on me with a winning smirk. Damn him. He always knows how to get to me.

"Taffyta, if I let you go, will you promise to not freak out on me?" He asks. I think then nod. He lets me go and lies down next to me. "Why did you sneak in? Are you insane?" I asked still kind of freaked out that he sneaked in. "Taff, you have no idea what hell I've gone through. I haven't been able to see you in a week. I need this." He says sounding slightly desperate and insane.

Eventually, I get distracted. Seriously he is annoying but he is very well defined.

He puts his hand on my cheek like he did before he woke me up. It felt kind of nice. "Taffyta, please just let me do this?" He sort of pleads and he kissed me. Why does this have to feel so good? He pulled me closer then, he went to kiss well, more like attack my neck.

"Taff, thank you. Thank you." He says kissing me and I feel like I'm losing my mind. I kind of feel guilty for putting him off now. I had no idea how bad he missed me. I feel like a horrible person. I gasped when he started to nip at my neck.

"Gloyd…" I say because I want him to stop before we did something we might regret but he looked at me with this desperate gaze and said, "Taffyta, please. I just want to do this. I just want to kiss you. That's all." I could not deny him anything now. He didn't wait for me to answer. He just kissed me more and more.

I don't really know what happened after that because I just remember falling asleep with him holding me.

* * *

I woke up and then I looked around the room. Then, I got freaked out when I saw Gloyd sleeping next to me.

His shirt was still off and he looked so cute when he was sleeping. But, I was panicking. I can't have anyone see him in here or my reputation will die.

"Gloyd, Gloyd you idiot wake up!" I say while shaking him by the shoulders. His eyes open and he grins at me. "Morning beautiful." He says and pulls me down to kiss him. He moves to my neck and I say, "Gloyd, yes it's morning and we will be screwed if someone sees us." "Taffyta, how many times do I need to say I don't care who sees us?" He says and kisses me.

I get up to get away from him and look in my bedroom mirror then I see something that makes me want to die.

"No, no, no." I repeat freaked out by what was on my neck. What _he _put on my neck. "You complete moron. Look what you did!" I yell through my teeth.

"Sorry Taff, got kinda carried away I guess." He says with a grin. "That's all you have to say is sorry? I'm going to have to cover these up now." I complain.

**(Gloyd's POV)**

I was pretty satisfied by what I did last night.

I really needed it to keep myself from going crazy. However, now my girlfriend is pissed that I left my _mark_, in three places. But, I was kind of proud of it. I watched her scramble to get ready as I put my shirt back on. She found a scarf thing to hide what I did.

"Taffyta, stop freaking out. Everyone's at the garage by now. We're clear. I'll go out the back if you want though." I offer. "Thanks Gloyd, bye." She says and kisses me lightly before running into her bathroom. I smile at the door. I'm able to sneak into my house and prep myself for racing. I needed last night so bad. I still can't believe Taffyta let me do it.

But, that kiss this morning only reassured me that she still likes me.

**(Vanellope's POV)**

Rancis told me about Gloyd acting crazy last night. I feel kinda bad for him. Taffyta is being really unreasonable with him.

Then, I see Gloyd walking in with this grin plastered to his face. I was about to talk to him when Rancis turned me around and kissed me. "Good luck _sweetheart_. I'll talk to you before I go out with the guys tonight." He says. "Sounds like a plan butterfingers." I say with a smile and he kisses me again before leaving.

I smile in his direction before I hop in my kart and drive over to the starting line.

* * *

Rancis found me and had to give a quick good-bye. Him and the guys had to get going to go do their guy bonding whatever stuff.

"I'll try to drop by later, okay?" He says holding my hands in his and giving me a genuine smile that I can't help but love. "Sounds great, have fun okay." I say and give him a kiss. He just holds me there and then we heard Swizzle and Gloyd yelling at us.

"C'mon Rancis! You can do that later. We've got a quest to complete tonight!" Swizzle yells.

We break away and I ask, "What quest?" Rancis laughs and says, "Just a list of crazy stunts that Swizzle came up with for us to do off random cliffs in the…" "Rancis!" Gloyd complains. "Shut up! I'll be right there!" He yells in their direction.

"Bye _sweetheart, _have fun at Candlehead's." He says and gives me a quick kiss before putting on his helmet and running to his kart. He hops in and they drive off.

* * *

Candlehead invited us over to her house for a girls only party.

We did what we usually did at parties: talked, laughed, and just enjoying the party. It was nearing the last hour and we were all having a good time except for Taffyta. She looked like she was hiding something.

"Taffyta, are you okay?" I ask. "Huh, I mean yeah. I'm fine." She lies. "Taffyta, cut the crap; what are you hiding from us?" Candlehead asks.

Taffyta looks away and says, "Hiding? I'm not hiding anything?" Right? And then I see something under that scarf she was wearing. I looked at Candlehead and she saw it too. "Taffyta, what's under the scarf?" I ask. "Um, nothing. Just cold." She says clearly lying again. Then Minty rips the scarf off her neck.

On her neck were three pronounced bruises which Taffyta tried to cover with her hands. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" Candlehead cried. "You've been sucking face with Gloyd all along. I knew it!" She cried again and Taffyta was turning red out of anger and embarrassment.

"Fine Candlehead! I've been making out with Gloyd, satisfied?" Taffyta yells back.

They get into this screaming match which Candlehead wins with her 'I told ya so' arguments. Taffyta eventually gave up and just walked out the door and slammed it shut. "Serves her right for keeping it from us." Candlehead says.

"Well, I knew." I say tauntingly. "Then, you suck too. You had the info and you kept it from us." Candlehead said sorta but not that mad at me. "Well, sometimes the best secrets you have to keep for yourself." I say and smirk.

We close out the party and I start to head home but, we all stop because of the display we see on Taffyta's property.

"You freaking idiot!" Taffyta yells at Gloyd who is trying to calm her down but she keeps throwing stuff at him. "Babe, I'm sorry. Just cool it." He says. "No, I'm not going to just cool it! Everyone thinks I'm a joke and it's all your fault." Taffyta yells enraged. Gloyd grabs her hand to stop her from throwing stuff at him and kisses her.

She says, "Gloyd, we're outside. We can't do this." "Taffyta, shut up. They know now so just shut up and enjoy it." He says and kisses her again.

We all stared in disbelief. Taffyta tried to resist at first but she gave in and kissed him back. I decided to leave because; I've had enough crazy for one night.

At this point I just want to go back home.

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I typed this up early because I will literally have no time this weekend. This chapter picks up when Vanellope gets home from the party. Hope you like it.**

I walked into the castle and Sour Bill greeted me, "Hello President Vanellope."

"Hey Sour Bill, I'm pretty tired. I think I'm probably going to go to sleep." I say and he says, "Very well. See you in the morning President." He says and walks away.

I get to my room and open the door. My mouth falls open and I see Rancis just making himself comfortable on my bed. His boots were next to my bed and his racing jacket was tossed over one of the armchairs in my room. "Hey _sweetheart_." He says and gets up. I was still in shock. "Hope you don't mind. Your room lights were on and your balcony door was wide open. I like your room." He says and kisses me lightly.

Rancis, is in my room. Well, if he's here for why I think he is then, he's in for a disappointment.

"Rancis, why are you here?" I ask curious. "I told you I'd drop by later. Also, I just wanted time to talk and hangout with my girlfriend without people interrupting." He says and lifts me up. I let out an 'ep' because it kinda took me by surprise. He sits on my bed and puts me down next to him and then he lies down. I look at him confused. "C'mon, it's okay. I just want to talk. Just lie down with me." He says and smiles at me.

Eh, why not. I wouldn't mind being closer to him personally.

I lie down and he holds me closer. I put my head on his chest and I can feel one of his hands rubbing my back. It felt really nice. He kissed the top of my head and I couldn't stop myself from smiling. "Hey Vanellope?" He asks. "Yeah." I say contently. "Is Gloyd dead or did Taffyta have mercy? Because she stopped all of us and dragged Gloyd away also, she made me and Swizzle leave or she said she'd kill us too. It's just easier not to argue with her." He explains. "No he's still alive. And she was just mad because everyone knows." I say with a slight laugh. He chuckles as he continues to rub my back.

"Well, that's one thing off my mind. Of many…" He says and I could just tell he was smiling. But, then he shifts over and looks at me propped on his side.

"Why? What else is in that _vain _brain of yours?" I say with a smirk. "Me, myself, and I." He says jokingly. I laugh.

"You laugh now. Even though that's not what I was thinking of." He says with a smirk. "Enlighten me." I reply back and look right at him but I freeze at his sudden change in expression and his eyes looked at me softly but I could see something else there too. "Vanellope." He says and his hand gently goes to the side of my face. I just looked at him.

He leaned down and kissed me. But, this kiss was different. I got this feeling to be as close to him as possible. I pulled him closer to me. I couldn't believe I would ever feel like this about anyone. But I do and to be honest. I'm loving this whole thing. I think I might be in love with him. The room felt like it was 1000 degrees.

He kept kissing me and I didn't want him to stop.

**(Rancis's POV)**

This is way better than our first kiss on the balcony.

Also, the fact she liked it made me like it that much more. She kept her arms locked around me and I wanted her stay there forever. I kept noticing she was tugging at my shirt. Is this really happening to me? I sit up and take off my shirt. She just stares at me and I see her smile and blush slightly.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" I ask with a smirk. "No, because your ego doesn't need to take up anymore of your brain." She says with a laugh. I laugh too and she pulls me back down and I kiss her again. We pick up right where we left off. She's so beautiful, spunky, witty, and perfect. My mind is not even controlled anymore.

"I love you." I mumble. I was not even thinking about what I was saying. She froze and stopped kissing me. I stopped and look at her. Nice Rancis! You probably freaked her out. "What?" She asks. "You love me?" I think but I don't want to lie at this point. "Um… yeah." I say biting my lip.

I'm done. She's going to kick me out and… But, she just pulled me back and kissed me. We break away and I say, "Um, okay back up one second." "Rancis, I heard you. Just kiss me." She says and leans in closer. "Wait, you know I said I love you right?" I ask. "Yes, Rancis. I heard you loud and clear. And… I love you too." She said and blushed. She loves me. She loves _me_!

"Really?"I say like a lovesick idiot.

"No, now I want you to get out. Of course, really. I love you, Rancis. Now shut up already." She says with a laugh and kisses me. How can I argue now?

We continue like that but after awhile my hands get a mind of their own. I take the bottom of her hoodie and try to lift it but, she stops abruptly and looks at me confused. "I'm sorry." I say quickly.

Crap. I just ruined it. I'm an idiot. I get up quickly and grab my stuff as fast as I could and try to bolt it but, I feel her hand grabbing my arm. "I'll leave, don't worry. I understand if you hate me. I'm sorry Vanellope." I say really sorry for the stupid stunt I tried with her.

"Rancis, it's okay. I'm not mad at you. I'm just not ready for that." She says. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I'll leave." I say and try to leave but she holds me there. "Rancis don't, just drop your stuff." She says. I just look at her. "Rancis, drop it and come back in." She says impatiently. I drop my stuff and walk back in from the balcony. "Vanellope, I would never make you do that if you didn't want to and I'm just really…" I say but, I get really confused when she kisses me. She wraps her arms around my neck. She pulls away and says, "Rancis, you really need to learn when to shut up."

We both laugh.

"I know you're sorry but, I'm just not ready for that. But, I don't want you to leave." She says and I look at her in disbelief. I hug her and say, "Thank you, but are you sure?" I ask unsure. "Yeah, as long as you don't try anything else." She says with a smirk. I smile and say, "Deal." I seriously don't deserve her.

I just tried something stupid and she completely forgave me. I was about to put my shirt back on but she stopped me. "Hey, I said I wasn't ready but, you don't need to go that far." She says with a sly smirk. I mirror her expression and we both make our way back to where we were before.

We just lay down and she was snuggled up close to me. I started to get tired and eventually I fell asleep.

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I woke up and I looked around for Rancis. I couldn't find him. But, I saw a note.

_Morning sweetheart,_

_I woke up early but I didn't want to wake you up. Thank you for forgiving me for being completely stupid last night. I'll see you at the track and I love you._

_-RF_

I smiled and rolled my eyes at the note.

He is seriously so cute. Also, I don't know why he keeps making a big deal out of what he did. It's not like I think he's a pervert or anything. He's just a guy and what else was I supposed to expect. Heck, I probably even lead him to think I wanted it when I got him to take off his shirt. I still blush just thinking about it. He looked so perfect.

He is seriously the best for understanding. It's not like the idea of us… going to that next step is unappealing, not at all actually, it's just that I'm not ready for it yet. But after last night and what he confessed to me, I'm in love with him. My thoughts were interrupted by Sour Bill knocking on my door.

"Wake up President Vanellope." He says flatly. "I'm up and I'll be right there." I reply. I really wanted to get to the track to prep for racing and to see my Rancis.

I smile at that last thought before I start to get ready.

**Please leave a review and thanks again for reading. (:**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone, I really appreciate all your opinions. But, do keep in mind that this story is rated T and all the characters in this fanfic are teenagers. So, I just want to let you know that. Anyway, here's chapter 10.**

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I'm in the garage and working on my kart. I was humming to myself. It was nothing that really made sense, I was just really happy today.

"Vanellope." I smile and turn around to see Rancis standing there holding a basket. "What's that all about?" I ask pointing to what he was holding. "I was thinking…" He ventured. "Kind of dangerous don't you think?" I say with a playful smirk. He laughed a little and said, "Hey Queen of Sass, I was going to say that we've never actually gone out on a date and I was going to ask you to go on a picnic with me. But, maybe we shouldn't." He says playfully. I realized what he said was true. We've never gone out on a real date. "Well, first, that's President Sass to you and I'd love to go." I say and lace my fingers with his on his free hand.

"Let's go then." He says and smiles at me.

We walk off to the coconut grass fields and we eat and watch the sunset. It was really romantic. Rancis was so sweet to do this.

It was only like 9 but I was dead tired. "Rancis, I hate to ruin this but could I go home? I'm so tried." I say and I even yawn. It wasn't even on purpose. That's how tired I was. "Sure, I 'll take you home." He says and gives me a light kiss before helping me up. He walked me home and we got to my door.

"Thank you Rancis, it was really sweet of you to do this." I say and hug him. He hugs me back and says, "It was nothing. Besides, I wanted to do this for you. Okay, goodnight." He says and kisses me.

"I love you." I say quietly. "I love you too." He says and kisses me one more time.

I walk in and smile at him. He smiles back and I shut the door.

**(Rancis's POV)**

I was smiling like a lovesick idiot and I knew it. I was just happy. I whistling as I walked home.

Then, I got hit in the head. "Ow, what the?" I say and look at the ground. It was a piece of rock candy. In the distance I heard engines and then saw two karts. Of course, it was my so called friends using sling shots to throw stuff at me.

Gloyd stops and says, "Nice shot, right?" They both laugh. I roll my eyes and walk away. They stop me. "Aw, c'mon buddy. We were gonna go check something out." Swizzle offers with a smirk. "What?" I question raising an eyebrow. "Get your kart and you'll see." Gloyd says. Well, it is still earlier and I can only be mad for so long. I smirk and say, "Let's go."

They smirk and they give me a lift to the garage so I can pick up my kart. I really want to see what they want to do.

* * *

I trail Gloyd and Swizz and we get to the volcano.

"Why are we at the volcano?" I ask. "Follow us up the path and we'll show ya." Gloyd says. I shrug and we drive up to the top of the volcano.

They hop out and go to the edge. They look into the volcano. What the heck could they possibly be looking at? "Rancis, c'mon." Swizzle says waving me over.

"Okay… But, if you push me in, I swear that when I regenerate I will not hesitate to fulfill that promise to hang you upside down in the forest." I say stern. "Relax butterfingers, and just look. I walk over and kneel next to Gloyd.

I look and I see what they are talking about. There is huge red capsule and a smaller red capsule. The bigger one has an out line that's too distorted to make out what it was. The smaller was more clear to see. There was a mass in it that looked like a person.

"See it?" Gloyd asks. "Is that what I think it is?" I say incredulous.

"Yup, it looks they might show up soon too. I've coming up here for the past 2 weeks and it keeps getting closer to the top." Swizzle says.

We were all quiet and we just looked at the capsules and we were just thinking about what this might do to the game.

**This was short I know but, the next chapter will more than make up for it. This is just foreshadowing. Please leave a review if you want and thanks for reading. (:**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for all the amazing comments from all of you. You are all seriously awesome. Well, here's a new chapter and early at that.**

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I crossed the finish line for the last time and I received yet another trophy. Winning never gets old.

The arcade was closed and ever since then the volcano was smoking. It was weird. It's never done that before. I quickly glance around at everyone and they all seem oblivious to it. Taffyta and Gloyd are flirting, well Gloyd is with her anyway, by the garage and all the girls are gawking at Swizzle as usual. Then, I look right back at the volcano.

"Vanellope, are you okay?" I look behind me and see Rancis looking kind of concerned for me. "Um, yeah. I'm fine. But, look." I say and look at the volcano. He looks at it and says, "Do you think it means anything?" I couldn't help but notice something about his question. It was like he might know. "I have no idea. But, I just have a weird feeling about it." I say.

Right as I said that the ground shook and Rancis pulled me close to him. What the heck is going on? All the girls were screaming and asking what was happening. I just told everyone to calm down. I heard something hit the ground. It was a new section to the garage. Then, I saw two red things shoot out the top of the volcano. Both were heading for Racer's Row.

They hit the ground and then the announcer said, "New Racer Unlocked!" The ground stopped shaking. "New racer?" I question under my breath.

Must be another little surprise that came with the upgrade 3 months ago. "C'mon, let's go see what this is about." I say and everyone follows me. Rancis grabs my hand and we hold hands all the way to the row.

* * *

We get there and see a red capsule that looked like a Hot Tamale. A little further behind it was a red and black house. The closer we walked to the capsule, the warmer it got. We got within a good area of the capsule and we all looked at it waiting for anything that could happen.

"Are they trapped?" Adorabeezle asks.

"Someone should try to touch it." Gloyd says. Actually that sounds like both a stupid and a good idea.

"I'll do it." Candlehead says. We all look at her shocked.

"Are you sure? I don't want any of us to burn alive. I think I should do it." I say living up to my presidential status. "No you won't." Rancis says firm. I turn to look at him and give him a _look_. "I can do it. I think we can all agree that I can take the heat." She says with a confident smile. She walks up the capsule and all the other girls are looking at her fearing she'll be incinerated on the spot.

She puts her hand on it and right away it glows. And you can see the blurry outline of the racer inside. I really want to see what they look like. Candlehead ran back to the group and we gave the capsule some more space. We didn't know if this thing will blow up or something. Rancis was holding onto me for dear life. The capsule cracked and it split in two and we just saw blinding bright light. The light died away.

"New avatar, Reed Hoitts!" The announcer rang as the light died down.

We saw the new racer on the ground. It was a guy. He looked as tall Rancis and the other guys but, he was strong looking, being slightly more muscular. He had jet black hair with traces of dark red in it. He wore all black and red. He was faced down so we couldn't see what he looked like. A high pitched beep scared all of us and the announcer said, "Activation error. New avatar will be active in 4 hours." We all look at him.

"Swizz, go turn him over." Gloyd says. "Why should I?" He says. "Just do it you big wuss. He's out cold. He won't kill ya." Gloyd says and shoves Swizzle forward. Swizzle gives him a glare and then looks at the racer. Who I guess his name is Reed? I look at the other girls who look really interested but slightly scared. Swizzle flips him on his back.

I heard every girl gasp and I look and we all run over to see him. I felt like I was being unfair to Rancis for a moment there.

I will admit Reed was really good-looking. He had sharp facial features and everything about his face looked close to perfect. But, not as perfect as Rancis. I think to myself with a smirk and hold Rancis's hand. "Well, he's gonna be out for the next 4 hours." Swizzle says. "We can't just leave him in the street and I don't think it would be a good idea to leave him alone." I say.

"I'll take care of him." Candlehead says quickly.

"Hey, what makes you think you can do it? I could take care of him way better than you can." Adorabeezle interjects.

"No way ladies! I want to watch him." Minty says.

"Yeah right, Reed would obviously want a girl with good taste to care for him." Crumbelina argues.

Crap, shiny new toy syndrome. I don't even know Reed and I feel bad that they were fighting over him like a piece of meat. All of them, except me, Taffyta, Sticky, and the guys, were screaming at each other over who gets to take care of Reed. I need to do something before they start to kill each other or Reed. I try to shout over them but it doesn't work.

"SHUT UP!" Taffyta shouts and they all go dead silent. I look at her and say, "Thank you." She smirks and nods toward me. "Ladies, calm down. I'm the president so I get to decide who takes care of Reed." I start. They all look at me intently. "Candlehead gets to do it." I say. She gets a victorious, smug smile on her face.

"Excuse me. Why does she get to?" Snowanna asks miffed like the other girls that weren't chosen. "Because one, she was the one to activate his capsule and two, she asked first." I say explaining my logic. "See? I won fair and square." She says and smiles at Reed, still unconscious, on the ground.

She tries to lift him but, he was too heavy. I look at Rancis and nod. He lets go of my hand and says, "C'mon boys. Let's move him in." They both walk over to help Rancis and they all pick up Reed. "Geez, this guy weighs a ton." Swizzle says in a slightly strained voice as they move him into his house. Candlehead follows them in and Taffyta helps me keep the other girls out of Reed's house.

When the guys got Reed situated, I gave Rancis a kiss goodbye because, I wanted to go into a little research about the new 'eye candy' of Sugar Rush.

I got back to the castle and went right to the code vault. I punched in the code and tied the licorice rope around my waist and the pipe. I dived in and found Reed's code, _Reed Hoitts. _I tap the code and open it up and start to read though his profile:

**Name: **Reed Hoitts

**Gender: **Male

**Age: **15

**Stereotype: **hot-headed, rebellious, bad boy

**Personality: **short fused, arrogant, some-what cynical, driven, and scrappy

**Hair: **Short, slightly wavy, jet black hair with traces of red; think 1950's greaser type hair style

**Eyes: **grey

**Features: **slightly more muscular and stronger than the other racers, very sharp facial features, slightly tanned skin

**Likes: **being sarcastic, racing, winning, working on cars, burning stuff, talking to people who match his quick wit

**Dislikes: **losing, being insulted, clueless people, being told what to do

**Attire: **Black racing boots, black pants with a red strip on the sides and a comb in his pocket, red t-shirt, black bomber jacket with two red strips going up each sleeve, dark red racing helmet and black goggles (only wears when he's racing). He also has black fingerless gloves he wears when he's racing.

**Kart (name/description): '**_**The Imperial' **_The Imperial is a kart named and modeled after the type of candy Reed is named for, cinnamon imperials. The kart is designed to look like a classic Indy car but composed of cinnamon imperials for the body and black licorice tires. Complete with exhaust pipes that shoot out fire and 'special' red powder that can both be activated in a power up to really heat things up.

**Description: **_**"Don't make him angry"**_Although a newer racer to the roster, Reed Hoitts proves he's just as seasoned on the track as the others. His personality is very similar on and off the race track. Reed is extremely driven and motivated to win. Reed loves nothing more than cars and his hair. He always combs his hair to make sure he looks 100%. However, his real personality is shown by his name, which is a parody of the candy Red Hots. Reed is by nature arrogant and a hot head. He can have some good one liners in conversation with his somewhat cynical, sarcastic sense of humor. Just don't make him angry because he will not hesitate to beat you into the ground. Even though most of the girls don't like his arrogance and short-temper, they look past it and see him as a hot, rebellious bad boy. In the end, this Reed is ready to take _Sugar Rush _to a whole new level.

* * *

Reed sounds like he could be a tough cookie. I wonder if Candlehead will be fine watching Reed.

* * *

**(Candlehead's POV)**

Reed's house is kind of too warm for my taste but I don't care. I won the best prize ever.

I get to take care of the newest and hottest guy in the game. I wiped some of the cocoa powder from the street off his face with a damp cloth. Seriously he is so hot and I get to have him all to myself for now. I have about an hour 'til he wakes up. I look at his face. His absolutely gorgeous, perfect face. I couldn't stop myself. I touched his jaw and then looked at his hair. It fit his look completely. I ran my hand through it lightly. It wasn't really soft but, I didn't care. He smells so good too, like cinnamon. Reed was hot figuratively and literally. His skin was radiating heat but, I'm used to heat.

I took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack in the hall. I looked back and smiled at him. I felt an immediate attraction to Reed. Not only on a physical level like the others but, I feel like there was a connection between us. Even when he was in the capsule I felt something there. I really want to see what he's like when he wakes up. I go into his kitchen and I decide to just make something for myself and also for Reed when he wakes up.

"Hi." I jump and drop the cake pan and the batter in it on the floor. I look behind me and my heart continues to race but for different reasons.

Reed is awake and leaning in the door way. He had this irresistible smirk on his face and his eyes were looking me over. They were slivery-grey and absolutely gorgeous. "Can you speak?" He asks still holding the smirk. I manage to collect myself and say, "Hi." "Good, I was beginning to think you're mute or something." He says walking towards me. "No, I can talk just fine. Thank you very much." I say and smirk at him.

"Oh sassy aren't you. Now tell me, who are you and why are you in my house?" He asks. "Oh, um your activation was delayed when you shot out the volcano and I was put in charge of watching you." I inform him and try to clean up the batter and pan I dropped on the floor.

"Just leave it." He says. I get up and he is only within a 2 foot radius of me. "Well, you answered one thing for me but, seriously who are you?" He asks and gets a little closer to me. I get kind of nervious. "Um, I'm… uh." "C'mon, I thought a girl with a candle on her head would be bright enough to know her own name." He says snidely. "Really? I didn't take you for a snarky jerk." I say with snide humor and smirk at him. He chuckles and says, "Who says I'm not a snarky jerk?"

"Look, just tell me your name lady." He says with a smirk. "I'm Candlehead. I know you're Reed." I say. He claps slowly and says, "Bravo, maybe you are smarter than you look." "Okay, you are a jerk." I say. I wasn't really mad at his comments. Actually, I thought this banter was kind of fun. He chuckles again.

"Well, I come across that way, don't I?" Reed says getting closer to me again. "Yes, in fact maybe I should leave because you're being such a jerk." I say and push him out of my way. I smile playfully at him.

"What if I try to be nicer?" He asks pinning me between him and the wall. "I don't know? Is it physically possible for you to be nice?" I ask trying to keep it cool on the outside. But inside I was going crazy. "Maybe I can; then again, I don't like being told what to do. But, for you. Maybe I can make an exception." He says and moves his face closer to mine. I was this close then… there was knocking on the door. We both give death glares to the door. Reed let out an angry breath from his clenched teeth. He looked a little too angry.

He opens the door. Jubilenna was standing there with a pie. "What do you want?" Reed says short. "Hello Reed, I'm Jubilenna." She says sweetly and I could totally sense her flirting. I wanted to punch her in the face for interrupting my thing with Reed. But, Reed might do that himself because of how angry he looks. "Okay and I don't really care right now so go away." He says and tries to shut the door but she puts her foot in the way. "Wait! I wanted to give you this." She says and shows him the pie. "Okay awesome. Now go away." He says. "But, Reed you didn't take…" She says but, he slams the door on her.

He takes a deep breath and turns back to face me. "Now, where were..." But, he was cut off by more knocking.

"Dammit, what now?" He says even angrier under his breath. He opens the door. "Hey Reed, I'm Minty." Minty says batting her eyes at him. "And I'm annoyed." Reed says and tries to shut the door. "No wait! Can I come in?" Minty asks. "No, you can get out!" Reed yells and slams the door.

He waits. It was silent for awhile. He walks back over to me and grabs my wrist. "What are you doing?" I ask. "I thought we should do this somewhere more suitable." He says and throws me onto his couch. I fall on my back against the couch. He climbs above me and leans in with an amused smirk. Hey, whatever he wants. I don't care. I put my arms around his neck and smirk at him. He chuckles and leans in but… knocks again at the door.

"That is it!" He yells angry, bothered, and… violently as he gets off me. He opens the door but, rips it nearly off the hinges. Adorabeezle stood there scared but, more interested in seeing Reed. "GO AWAY!" He shouts at her blowing a gasket. Okay, now she looked scared. Adorabeezle ran away.

Reed watched her run then he got even madder. "What the hell do you people want?" Reed shouts. I get up and see all the girls with the exception of Taffyta, Sticky, and Vanellope standing on Reed's lawn. Okay, I was mad too but, I didn't want Reed to go ballistic and kill my friends. I got in his way. I saw why Adorabeezle looked kind of scared. Some of the flecks in Reed's eyes were going from grey to red. I put my hands on his shoulders. "Reed, calm down. Deep breaths." I say. He tries to calm down and eventually his eyes return to normal.

"Are all these girls crazy and annoying?" He asks me quietly and irritated. "I'll get rid of them okay." I reason. He just walks back inside and slams the door.

I walk up to my friends and say, "Okay ladies, hit the road. Reed doesn't want to talk." "Yeah, right? You probably are just doing this to keep him to yourself." Citrusella says accusingly. They all shout in agreement. I scream over them, "Give Reed a break! He woke up within the last half hour and all he's been dealing with is you guys being annoying!" They were silent. Then they all sighed and walked home.

Guess they don't want to ruin their imaginary chance they have with Reed. Cuz, I know what he really wants. I walk in and give him a smug smile. "They're gone." I say victorious. "Good." He says still mad. "Oh, c'mon Reed. Isn't there something you want to do?" I ask hinting at him. He stays silent. "Are you okay?" I ask him and put my hand on his shoulder. He looks up at me then, his lips quirk into a sly grin. He grabs me puts me where I was before on the couch. "You're right. There is something." He says slyly and he puts his lips on mine like lightning. I was overwhelmed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. His lips were burning from his body heat but I loved it. I wanted more of him. But, he pulled away. I pouted at him. He smirked at me.

"That's all for now." He says tauntingly. "Jerk." I say slightly peeved. He laughed a little. "I know I am. But, I do what I want when I want, so deal with it. For example." He says and kisses me again. It was short lived. "I'll try to but, I think there should be a better deal with this." I say and use whatever strength I have to pull him down and kiss him back. He was giving me an annoyed yet more amused look. "Okay, fair enough." He says and kisses me one more time.

After that he let me up and I was about to head out. "Hey Candlehead." I look back at Reed. "See you tomorrow." He says and winks at me. I walk out of his house victorious. As of now, I can tell Reed is into me and I can totally deal with that.

**Hope you like my OC I came up with. Thought he'd spice things up a little in the story. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for all the feedback about my OC. I'm glad I've received such good responses. Well, on to chapter 12.**

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I walked in a little later than I usually do to the garage. I wanted to personally see Reed Hoitts to meet him and also to tell him something that he probably won't like. His bio doesn't reassure me either. He kinda sounds like a rough diamond. I walked in and I saw every girl walking past the new section of the garage to sneak looks at Reed. There was music that sounded like old-style rock and roll. It was blaring. I walk in and I look into Reed's area.

All of our sections are customized to our particular style. Reed's looked like a time machine took it back to the 1950's. There was even a jukebox which was blaring the music. Then, I saw Reed using a black comb to help smooth back his hair. I tried to get his attention but the music was too loud. He walked over to his kart and started to work on it completely oblivious to me. I didn't want to do this but I walked in and turned off his jukebox. His head shot up.

"Hey lady, I was listening to that." Reed complained. I ignored him.

"Hey Reed, I'm Vanellope von Schweetz, president of _Sugar Rush_." "Nice to meet you prez, and I'm the king of Siam." He says sarcastically then chuckles to himself. I smirk a little. Okay that was pretty good. Now how do I tell Reed the bad news gently? I try to remember he had a temper from his description.

"Reed, I need to tell you something about racing today." I start. "I'm so up for racing. I'm ready to finally give 'my baby' a spin on the track." He says and pats the side of his kart. "Well, yeah, about racing…" I start again. "What about it?" He asks raising an eyebrow and frowning slightly. He crossed his arms.

"Look, the system error yesterday messed up your information transfer to the game today. So, you won't be able to race until tomorrow." I say and he lets out a long exhale though his nose. His teeth were gritted slightly. He opened his eyes and I could've sworn they were sort of red. He ran past me outside. It was silent and then I heard something breaking. I ran outside and saw Reed breaking branches off trees and throwing jawbreakers. I haven't been this shocked by something like this since Ralph. He kept on grunting and let out muffled snarls.

"Reed!" I shouted. "Reed, I'm sorry but…" I say but he walks right up to me. Half of each iris in both his eyes was red.

"You're just doing this to get me down. Well guess what honey? No one tells me what to do! No one!" He shouts getting angrier by the second.

"Hey back off!" Rancis shouts and steps in. Rancis steps in and pushes me behind him. "Cool it, man. You don't have to yell at her." Rancis says stern. "Back off Buttercup boy, so I can talk to the oppressor over here." Reed says back. "I won't let you get near her until you cool off." Rancis says. "Oh… She's your girlfriend isn't she? Well, how stereotypical of you to play protector." Reed says angry and snidely. "Look who's talking stereotypes. At least my hair isn't causing an oil slick." Rancis says back.

"Reed, calm down." Candlehead said and grabbed his arm. He glanced at her and looked back at Rancis.

"You don't talk bad about my hair, Nancy boy." Reed says through his teeth. "Calm down grease ball." Rancis says and then Reed's irises go completely red.

Swizzle grabs Rancis and Gloyd grabs Reed but they both get tossed off and Reed throws a punch. Rancis dodged it and they locked up and started throwing punches. We couldn't stop them as much as I wanted to. They kept fighting but Reed's strength advantage over Rancis took play. I felt like I was being ripped apart watching him. I was about to step in when… Ralph came out of nowhere and threw Reed off Rancis and Reed hit a tree. Reed tried to get up but he was too weak and he collapsed. Everyone stood shocked by what just happened.

"Rancis." I say to myself. I ran up to him and kneeled down next to him. His mouth was bleeding and his left eye was swollen. I look up and look at Ralph.

"Ralph, help me take Rancis to the infirmary near the castle." I say. Wynchel and Duncan ran in kind of late. "Wynchel, Duncan; take Reed to the fungeon for now to make sure he's cooled off." I say and they pick up Reed and put him in a van that came around the corner. "Everyone else, go start the random roster race on your own. I'm not racing today." I say and hold Rancis's hand.

I watch them all walk away and I see Candlehead looking… I couldn't describe it. I've never seen her so drained and blank.

Ralph picks up Rancis and he lets out a grunt in pain. "Ralph, what are you doing here?" I ask as we walked to the infirmary. "I came here to watch you race before work. But, I saw that fight and decided to step in. Who was that guy anyway?" Ralph asks. "Reed Hoitts, he's the newest racer to the game. He has really bad anger issues." I explain. "I see." He says and we walk into the infirmary.

The healers start to work on Rancis and said I should leave and come back later. We walked out and Ralph had to say bye or else he was gonna be late.

I walk to the castle and got to the fungeon. I go to the cell Reed was in. I look in and see Reed sitting in the corner, his ankle chained to the wall and his head face down on his knees. He looks up at me and he has a scratch on his forehead and a cut on his bottom lip. "Are you…" I start. "Don't worry, I'm cooled off." He assures flatly. I have Duncan let me in. I sit down and he says, "I can't believe you aren't ripping me apart."

I stay silent.

"Look, I don't fully mean all that crazy stuff I do when I'm… in the _zone_." He explains. "Zone?" I question. "Certain things set me off. In this case, your boyfriend. I just snapped when he called me a grease ball. I hate being insulted." He says. "Yeah, I noticed." I say.

"Look, I'll 'apologize' or whatever to…" He says but he has no idea what Rancis's name is. "You aren't going to "'apologize' or whatever" to Rancis; you are going to apologize." I clarify peeved at his attitude. "Look, you're lucky I'm going to do this. I could just say screw him and ignore it but, I'm gonna admit I did something uncalled for and try to make it alright." Reed says and offers to shake my hand. "Okay." I say and shake his hand.

He's right; I should just take what I can get with him; even if it's not completely sincere.

**(Rancis's POV)**

I've been in the infirmary for 2 hours.

I've never gotten in a fight before. But, I was defending Vanellope from the new guy so I had to and at this point; I don't regret it. Even though, he beat the crap out of me. "Hey." I look in the doorway and see… that guy. "What do you want Reed?" I ask fed up.

"Look man, I'm waving a theoretical white flag here." He says and pulls up a chair next to my cot. "Why are you here?" I ask. "I wanted to say sorry for freaking out on your girlfriend, calling you Nancy boy, and messing up your face." He says. I couldn't believe it. Is this guy trying to apologize?

"Why are you doing this?" I ask confused. "Because 1) your girlfriend kind of told me to and 2) because I was acting like a tool over something stupid. You'll realize that I can be loose cannon." He says with a smirk and chuckles to himself.

"Well, I guess I'm sorry for pissing you off even more." I say and sit up on my cot. "It's fine. Also, you have a mean right hook." He says and points to his lip. We both kind of laugh. "So, are we cool?" He asks putting his hand out. I shake his hand and say, "Yeah, we're cool. Hey, me and the guys were going to hang out later, want to come along?"

"Depends, what do you guys do?" He asks leaning back in his chair. "We go out on speed and stunt runs with our karts, go cliff diving, or we just hang out at the lagoon." I say giving him the usual list. He was thinking.

"Look Reed, we are the minority in this game. There are 4 of us and 12 girls; that means we need to stick together. Trust me; it's one of the few things that make me friends with Swizz and Gloyd. They are both immature and kind of crazy but, we need to maintain solidarity or the girls will walk all over us." I explain.

"Okay, I'll hang out with you guys. I'm not doing anything else anyway." He says.

* * *

I walked into the garage with Reed and we had to explain to almost everyone 5,000 times that we were cool. I noticed him looking at Candlehead a little longer than he should have when she was working on her kart. She seemed oblivious to him watching her. I need to find out about that later.

Gloyd and Swizzle just seemed skeptical about it but, I talked them into letting Reed hang out with us. Swizzle was dead against it. I know why Swizzle hates Reed. He's the new guy to the girls and Swizz is no longer the center of attention. He's acting like a stupid kid about this whole scenario. It's weird because me and Reed were fighting this morning and I should hate him, but now I was hanging out with this guy and I didn't care .

Me and Gloyd did our usual routine and said bye to Vanellope and Taffyta. Gloyd and Taffyta are a little more obnoxious about it than me and Vanellope are. Reed drove up in his kart and said, "So are we gonna go jump stuff or what?" We jump in our karts and let Swizzle lead the way.

* * *

Hanging out with Reed actually went pretty good. Reed is actually pretty cool when he's not in rage mode. We were all hanging out on this landing in our karts. The laughing died down and Reed looked at Swizzle.

"Hey Swizzle, what's up with you and that one chick you were talking to this morning?" Reed asks. "Why the hell do you need to know?" Swizzle asks. "Because I just want to know whose girl is whose? I know the hot blonde with the attitude is his." Reed says pointing to Gloyd. Gloyd gets a slight smile on his face.

"You mean me and Sticky? No, Sticky is just a friend. 'Sides, I prefer to play the field. So, you better not screw up my game." Swizzle says and glares at Reed.

Reed laughs and we stare at him. "No way man, you can keep your game. Most of the girls here are psychotic so yeah, I'm not interested." He says and laughs. "Most?" I question. "Yeah?" He says looking at me like I'm stupid. "That means there are girls that you think aren't crazy." Gloyd says catching on.

"Hey, I see what you're doing so I'll just say it. I am into one of the girls here." Reed says with sly smirk.

I'm pretty sure I knew exactly who it was but, I would rather stay on good terms with Reed for now. We were joking around and Gloyd says, "Hey guys, the girls are at the lagoon tonight. Let's go scare them. C'mon, it'll be funny." "I'm in." Swizzle says and smirks. "Nice, what about you guys?" Gloyd says with a mischievous grin.

"Let's see, go try to scare a bunch of girls in their bathing suits in the forest only to get caught and ripped apart and be falsely accused of being perverts by those same girls. Yeah, pass." Reed says.

"Who says you were invited?" Swizzle says with another glare at Reed. "Swizz, I said guys so Reed could tag along," Gloyd says and continues, "Rancis, c'mon, just come with us and actually have fun and stop acting like an old man."

"No way, if Vanellope caught me, she would lock me in the fungeon and hate me forever. So, no." I say. "Fine, you guys be boring. Swizz and I want to actually have fun on Friday night. See ya." Gloyd says and they drive off.

"What now?" Reed asks. "Want to hang out at my house and grab a soda?" I ask. He shrugs and says, "Alright."

* * *

Reed and I were laughing in my living room while we drank sodas. Reed is actually pretty cool and funny once you get to know him.

Eventually I just had to ask. "Hey Reed, do you like Candlehead?" I ask. "You saw me checking her out in the garage didn't you?" He asks with a sly smirk.

"I'm not judging you. She's cool. If I had to hang out with a girl that's not Vanellope, I would choose her." I admit and take a drink. "She is cool and she's quick with comebacks. I like a girl who can have sass."He says and takes a drink.

We were quiet then he asked, "Rancis, how did you hook up with the president anyway?"

"Well, I had a thing for her even before the upgrade. I was completely whipped ever since. Then, the feeling was mutual between us about 3 months ago." I explain and smile to myself. "Okay, you are whipped. But, don't listen to me from this morning. She is actually pretty cool. I like any girl that doesn't try to get with me constantly. That's why I like Candlehead. She played hard to get at first with me." He says and smirks then chuckles.

"What do you mean at first?" I ask raising an eyebrow. He smirked and said, "When I woke up, I walked to the kitchen and I saw her in my kitchen baking something. I wasn't gonna complain, she was pretty hot. Anyway, I got her attention and she told me her name then we had a pretty good banter going. After all those psycho hose beasts were done bothering me, we made out on the couch in my living room."

"Huh, cool." I say sorta uncomfortable that he was calling Candlehead hot and that he made out with her. I think of her like my sister and it's just weird to hear it.

We were laughing about something else when we hear banging on my door. Reed and I look at each other and I get up and walk to the door. I open it and see all of the girls standing there looking vengeful and slightly angry. Vanellope led the group.

"Hey Rancis. Do these belong to you?" She asks and some of the girls step aside to show Swizzle and Gloyd soaked, probably from the lagoon, and looking scared. The girls were holding them by their arms to keep them from escaping.

I smirked at them and shook my head. "Rancis, please. Help us. Say something." Gloyd pleads.

"Rancis, you can get them out of it or they have to face whatever we have planned." Vanellope offers. I think. "Rancis, what's… Ah, tweedle dee and dumb got caught." Reed says and laughs. "Vanellope, do whatever you guys want." I say.

"Rancis, what the Hell! Help us!" Swizzle begs.

"Thanks for your input. I'll see you tomorrow." She says and winks at me. She turns to the group and says, "Alright ladies, you know what to do." The girls started laughing and dragging them away in separate directions and Gloyd and Swizzle were practically crying for help.

"If I keep bailing you out you won't learn anything!" I shout.

Reed and I laugh talking about what could happen to them and figured we'd find out in the morning and then Reed decided to go home while, 'the psycho hose beasts were occupied' as he put it.

I know I'm going to hear some interesting stuff tomorrow.

**What's going to happen to Swizzle and Gloyd? You'll see. Thanks for reading and leave a review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Nothing new to say other than thanks again. On with the story.**

**(Rancis's POV)**

I was about to head to the garage early when there was a knock on the door.

I opened it and see Reed with a mischieves grin on his face. "Rancis, want to see what happened last night to the idiots, or one of them anyway." He says and chuckles. Then I see a bucket with something in it on the ground. "Okay, but what's that for?" I ask glancing at the bucket. "A little rude awakening. C'mon." He says and we try to go as fast as we can without spilling the lemonade, which I found out Reed got it from the lagoon, in the bucket.

We walked and I had to choke back laughing. Gloyd was hanging upside down from a tree branch, in his underwear. He was even sleeping which I found hilarious.

"Priceless, right?" Reed says and chuckles again. "You've got that right. So should we wake him up?" I ask. "Gladly." Reed says with a devious grin and I help him balance out the bucket to get it directly over Gloyd. "1…2…3…" He says and we pour the bucket on Gloyd.

"Waaahahhhhha. Oh, it's you guys, what's up?" Gloyd asks smiling after he freaked out.

I raised an eyebrow. This is a weird reaction to get after we threw him to the wolves. "Why aren't you freaking out on us for letting them do this to you?" I ask confused. "Actually, it wasn't too bad. Other than them taking my clothes and hanging me upside down. Besides, Taffyta gave me a kiss before she left me here." He said and got a dreamy look on his face.

"Okay dude that's kind of weird but, here I'll cut ya down, okay?" Reed says and takes out a pocket knife. I give him a puzzled look. "What? I always have my knife on me." Reed says and cuts down Gloyd. Gloyd hits the ground and complains for a little bit.

When he gets up he freezes. "Crap, we need to find Swizz." He says. "Why?" Reed asks. "Because, Swizz got most of the wrap for what happened last nightand he had 7 of them deciding his fate. I can only imagine what they did. C'mon." Gloyd says and takes off running.

We both follow.

* * *

Gloyd wanted us to split up to look for Swizzle. It wasn't even 5 minutes when Gloyd yelled, "Found him!" I ran in and I saw Swizzle and I had to try not to laugh.

"Okay, where…"Reed says then looks at Swizzle and trys to fight back laughs then gave up and was laughing out of control. "Shut up!" Swizzle yelled defensively. Swizzle, like Gloyd, had all of his clothes except his boxers taken from him except he was bound by his arms and legs between two trees. But, what made it really funny was that the girls practically graffitied random places on his body. What really had me going was one of them wrote Swizz on his forehead and then crossed out the "S" of his name. It was simple but very creative.

When we finally got Reed to stop laughing, we asked Swizzle what happened. He explained how the girls did all this to him and then said they were even. "Hey Swizz, how's your game feel now?" Reed asks snidely. "Reed, if I had use of my arms I would break your teeth." Swizzle says glaring at Reed.

"Hey lollypop lame-o, I have the magic knife to set you free. Now, are you really gonna try to talk back or are you gonna shut up?" Reed asks. Swizzle just rolls his eyes then let's Reed cut him loose. Reed got Swizz free and then we got back to the row. "Hey Swizz, good luck getting that crap off." Reed says right when Swizzle goes into his house.

"Well see you guys at the garage." Reed says and we all go our separate ways. I got my helmet from my house then went to the garage.

I got to work on my kart. "Hey." I hear and smile. I glance over and Vanellope gives me a kiss on the cheek. "Hey." I say back. "So, you know how my night went but, how did hanging out with Reed go?" She asks. "Good, he's not such a bad guy when you get to know him." I say and keep working.

Vanellope stays and chats until the random roster race is about to start. "Good luck." She says and kisses me. "Good luck _sweetheart._" I says and smile as she walks away.

We get to the starting line and Reed pulls up next to me. He glances at me and nods. I nod back. 3… 2… 1… Go! I shift gears and put my pedal to the floor.

I was in the leading 4 racers with Taffyta, Swizzle, and Vanellope. But, Swizzle got knocked out by a sweet seeker then I saw Reed taking his place. It stayed this way for a while then when we were getting to the end; Reed hit a crate. "Power up!" The announcer rang. I noticed this cinnamon smelling red powder blocking my view then everything got really hot. It heated up my engine to the point where my kart stalled.

I noticed this happened to me, Swizz, Vanellope and Taffyta. Reed zoomed past all of us taking the lead. "Dammit." I heard Swizz mumble. We get our karts put back on track. We get close to Reed but it was too late.

Reed actually won? "Winner! Reed Hoitts!" The announcer said.

"Yeah! That's right!" Reed yelled arrogantly as he held up the trophy. Vanellope was shocked and so was I. But, Vanellope was a good sport about it; like she usually is. "Nice job Reed. You race well." She says and offers to shake his hand. Reed smirks and shakes her hand but, I see something out of the corner of my eye. I see Swizzle gritting his teeth and his eyebrows knit together.

Crap, there is definitely gonna be something going down when the arcade closes.

**Yes! I finally finished this chapter. Tell me what you thought and thanks for reading. (:**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you all for being so generous with your feedback. It always makes my day. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**(Reed's POV)**

My first trophy looks really good on my shelf. I definitely showed them that just because I'm new that I'm just as good… hell, I proved I'm better than them.

I was putting my cart back to pre-racing levels when I heard, "Hey Reed." I look and see Rancis. "Hey Rancis, what's up?" I say closing up the hood of my kart. "Just wanted to say you did really well today. Nice racing." He says. "Thanks man." I say and put my jacket back on. "Um, just want to warn you. You might want to look out for Swizz." He says. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind." I say looking away and roll my eyes.

I really don't know why the hell that dude hates my guts. He started this.

"Well, see ya Reed." He says. "See ya." I say and he walks away. I'm not usually the 'friend' type but I'd say Rancis is my friend. He's pretty cool.

I take out my comb and smooth down my hair. "Perfect." I say smirking. I take a stick of Big Red gum out and start chewing on it. I walk out and see a group of psycho-chicks and _her. _Candlehead glances back at me as her friends start walking. I lean in the doorway of the garage and give her a wink. She blushes and smiles then blows me a kiss before catching up with her group. I smirk. She totally wants me.

"You think you're so great." I heard and turned around to see Swizzle. He looked really pissed at me. "I don't think; I know." I say back crossing my arms and standing my ground. "You know what Reed? Before you were here it was me. I had the wins, the attention, the girls. But, you just had to show up, didn't you?" He says narrowing his eyes at me.

Seriously, why does this dude hate me so much?

"Look lolly pop dork, stop blaming me for all your stupid problems. It's just sad. Also, trust me, you don't want to mess with me." I warn getting in his face. "Back off, I'm not scared of you, hot head." He says and pushes me.

My rage starts building and then I grab him by the throat and lift him off the ground with one hand. "You. Don't. Touch me." I growl through my teeth. He struggles in my grasp. He manages to kick me in the gut, prompting me to drop him. Swizz tries to run from me but I tackle him to the ground and start wailing on him. Hey, this guy was asking for it. His face started bleeding in several place and I'm about to go for the knock out when I felt two needles hit me in the back and then my muscles tense up as the current goes through me.

Swizzle manages to crawl away as I fall to the ground and tense up even more. My vision goes blurry and I just remember seeing a couple shadows before I black out.

**(Candlehead's POV)**

I was walking over to the castle as a favor for Taffyta. Vanellope left her goggles in her area of the garage and Taffyta asked me if I could take them back to her since she had plans with Gloyd. I figured why not? I'm not doing anything. As I made my way to the castle my mind was somewhere else.

Reed is so hot. I've been going crazy since he came to the game. I want to see him constantly. I just get a little uneasy when he gets angry and gets violent. I couldn't believe he beat up Rancis really bad yesterday. But, everyone has flaws right?

I get there and knock on the door. Vanellope answers and she looks kind of stressed. "You left this at the garage. Are you okay?" I ask as she takes her goggles back. "I'm fine, something just happened with Swizzle and Reed." She says. "Why? What happened?" I ask getting concerned.

"Swizzle made Reed angry and started a fight with him. But, Swizzle is in the infirmary now and Reed had to be settled down and we had to cool him off. He's home now." She says.

I was in shock and it made me think. It wasn't good thoughts either but, I wasn't upset. I'm just really conflicted emotionally.

**(Reed's POV)**

Well, at least Vanellope let me go. Since, she decided on the evidence that I was innocent. Being shocked sucks by the way.

I was getting a soda when I heard knocking. I opened my door and smirked at who I saw. "Hey." I say smoothly to Candlehead. "Um, hey Reed. Can we talk?" She asks. I raise an eyebrow and say, "Alright." She walks in and we sit on my couch.

"What's going on?" I ask knowing something was up with her. She lets out a deep breath, "Reed, I heard you got in another fight…" "It wasn't my fault. Swizz started it." I explain. "I know you didn't. But, I've been thinking. What if this between us gets dangerous?" She says looking drained.

"What are you talking about?" I ask confused as to exactly what she was getting at. "Reed, you, me, none of us have control of what we are. You are kind of a loose cannon. You've gotten into two fights in the last 48 hours." She explains. "I know I kind of cross the line a lot but, that's just part of me." I say explaining myself.

"It's that part that I've been thinking about Reed. This time it's Rancis and Swizzle but, what if I make you mad at me. Then what?" She says sullen. "Babe c'mon, I wouldn't hurt you." I say try to touch her cheek but she shies away from me and slides further away from me on the couch.

"Reed look, I don't know if I can do this. I'm sorry." She says and walks out my door.

I run through what just happened and I was pissed. But, not at her. I was pissed at myself. I got up and walk out to my back yard. I start pacing randomly, grunting, and running my hands through my hair. I had to get my anger out. I sprinted into the woods and started ripping stuff apart. This sucks!

I had the coolest chick ever in the palm of my hand and she threw me over for acting like an ass. I feel like crap. No worse.

**What's going to happen with Reed? You'll see… Thanks for reading and please review.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hope you like what goes on in this chapter. **

**(Reed's POV)**

These past 2 weeks sucked. Candlehead won't even look at me and avoids me as much as possible. I try to not think about her but, the more I think, the more I want her to like me back again. Rancis and Gloyd are trying to help me but, I've given up. I can't figure out how I can get her back.

Working on my kart is the only thing keeping me from melting down. I was tightening a bolt back in place but, I just get too frustrated and I just throw my wrench as hard as I could at the wall. It leaves a dent in the wall and I sit on my stool in my area and put my head on my knees.

I was like that for awhile but, then I felt like I wasn't alone. I felt something touch me and start massaging my shoulders.

I shot up and turned around. It was this chick I've seen several times. I've never talked to her. "Sorry Reed, I didn't mean to frighten you." She says and smiles at me like she's flirting. I put up my front and tell her, "I don't get scared, toots."

"Of course, I don't even know why I said that." She says and walks towards me and puts her finger on my chest, gives me a flirting smile and says, "A big, strong guy like you; is so fearless. I really like that." As she was talking, her finger was trailing in an 'S' pattern down my chest. I didn't really know if I liked it so I put a good 4 feet between us. "Who the hell are you?" I demand. "No need to be so hostile. I'm Crumbelina DiCaramello." She says stepping 1 foot toward me.

"Why are you here?" I ask wanting her to leave. She smiles seductively at me and walks closer and says, "I'm here to ask a small favor of you Reed. You see, I need the help of a strong man like you."

"What do you need?" I ask annoyed. "I need help lifting my kart to change a tire. Surely, a guy of your style and skill can help me." She says putting her hand on my arm.

I pull my arm away and cross my arms over my chest. "What's in it for me?" I inquire raising an eyebrow. "I'll make it worth your while. Also, I'd be grateful if you could help me." She says rubbing her hands on my right bicep and leans up to my ear and whispers seductively, "Very grateful…"

Okay, this girl is kind of hot but, she's bordering on the line from crazy to psycho and way too persistent with her flirting. Then again she probably won't leave me alone 'til I agree. I keep weighing my options then say, "Okay, sure. Whatever." "Great, follow me." She says flirting again. I grab my jacket and throw it over my shoulder as I walk.

We get to her area and I see Candlehead's section is right across from her area. Okay, this may not be so bad. I can sneak glances at her as I work. I throw my jacket on a work bench and say, "Alright, where's the problem?" I ask and grab my comb to smooth down my hair before I get started. I put the comb back in my pocket. She already had the bolts off her tires.

This should be easy.

Her kart was light, I was able to lift it with one hand and remove the tire with the other. I could feel her checking me out. I tossed the old tire aside and put the new one on and I even put the bolts back in for her. I stand up and wipe my hands on my pants and say, "Alright, done."

I realized she was right next to me. She smiles seductively at me again and says, "Thank you so much Reed. You are so great for helping me out." I try to walk away but, she surprises me when she gripped my bicep and threw me into the back wall.

Whoa, wasn't expecting that.

She stands right in front of me and puts her hands on my chest and slowly runs them down my body. "Reed, I can't let you leave until I thank you _properly_." She says seductively and I raise an eyebrow at her. Her hands snake around my neck and she just kisses me.

I heard a gasp and I opened my eyes and see Candlehead staring at us. She looked like she was hurt and a little bit angry. Huh. She still kept kissing me and working her way down my jaw and to my neck. I didn't even care. I kept my eye cracked open to watch Candlehead's reaction to me with Crumbelina.

Her being hurt was slowly turning and then it became looking like pure anger but, I saw something else in her expression. Almost as present as the anger. She slammed her door not wanting to look at us anymore.

That's it!

I get out of Crumbelina's grip and grab my jacket and look at her. "Um, yeah. This was fun but, see ya!" I say and walk out. "Reeeeed." She whines but, I run outside and put my jacket back on.

I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. Jealousy was the key all along! All I need to do is get someone to play along with me to get Candlehead back.

Crumbelina is a definite no way. She wouldn't agree to make out with me again just to make Candlehead jealous since her whole performance today was specifically to make me _her_ whipping boy.

I'm not taking my friends' girlfriends either. Gloyd and Rancis are my boys; I don't take my boys' ladies. I'm not that low. Dammit who would want to play along with me?

I look around and I see Swizz talking to that girl Sticky. It's so obvious she wants him but, he looks like he doesn't know or care. These girls walk by and start to flirt with him and he walks with them and looks like he says bye to Sticky. She waves and puts on a small 'fake' smile. He walks away with those other chicks and Sticky's expression turns into a mixture of hurt, frustration and jealousy. I smile deviously.

This is just way too perfect!

She looks at Swizzle and the girls and I walk up so I'm about 5 feet behind her. I cross my arms and lean against the wall of the garage. I smirk and say, "Friend zone sucks doesn't it?" She whips around to look at me and gives me a scowl. "Go away Reed." She says annoyed.

Wow, she hates me! I can work with this. We don't need to like each other for this 'game'.

"It's alright. No need to get snippy. I come in peace." I say holding my hands up and walk closer. "What do you want?" She asks crossing her arms. "I just couldn't help but, notice that lolly pop boy blew you off again. It must be very maddening and frustrating for you." I say with my best attempt at sympathy, which still sucks, and put my hand on her shoulder.

She looks at Swizzle and looks back at me throwing my hand off her shoulder. "Okay, yes! It's destroying me. To him I'm just 'the girl who's a friend'. I don't want to be that to him." She say frustrated. "Maybe… he just needs some incentive to see you as more." I hint raising an eyebrow.

"What are you getting at?" She asks putting her hands on her hips. "I'm sayin' play the jealousy card. Make him see how much someone else wants you." I say hinting more at my plan. "But, who am I going to use to… No! No way!" She says repulsed.

"Well, guess what toots? I'm your only option to make Swizz jealous. I'm the only single guy here and I'm more than willing to help you." I say. "What do you get out of this?" She asks. "I'm trying to make a girl jealous. So, it benefits both of us." I explain.

"Why me though? Every other girl here drools over you. Why not use them?" She inquires.

"Because they're too clingy. They wouldn't let go once they had me and if Candlehead took me back then I would have a crazy, psycho, vengeful, hose-beast after me forever. Now, what do you say Sticky? You help me, I help you?" I say and offer my hand.

She looks at Swizz and back at me.

"As much as I resent you. I want Swizzle. Reed, you got yourself a deal." She says and shake my hand. I smirk and say, "Perfect, we'll go over details later."

This plan should work. But, I just need to get Sticky to trust me more.

**Reed's manipulative ways are finally being put to a constructive use. What did you think? Thanks for reading and please review. (:**


	16. Chapter 16

**The plan goes into play. Let's see how it plays out…**

**(Sticky's POV)**

I can't believe I'm doing this. I don't even like Reed… at all. He's manipulative, underhanded and just a complete snake. But, Swizzle hates him even more than I do.

I was walking to the garage when I felt my arm get grabbed and I was being dragged. It was Reed. He was pulling me into the forest. "What are you doing?" I ask. "We're planning." He says slyly and keeps pulling me along.

We get to a clearing and he lets go of me. "Okay, what's the plan?" I inquire crossing my arms. "It's simple, we walk in today looking like we're a couple. We start slow with a little flirting to start the fire to drive them crazy. Touch my arms, whisper random crap in my ear…" He suggests.

"I don't know if I can do this." I say. "Look, I can't repulse you that much. You think I'm hot, right?" He says smirking at me.

"You really are full of yourself." I say. "What and Swizz isn't? Look, if it really helps, just pretend I'm him. I don't care. Flirt with me like you would with him." He says. I think about it and I will admit freely again that Reed is a jerk… but, he's a good-looking jerk. I guess I could do what he suggested.

"Okay, I can do that. What about you then?" I fire back. He smirks and says, "I know what I'm doing. Just accept my advances. We just have to do this in public and I know you hate me still. But, to be honest, I'm not that crazy about you either but, I can deal with it."

It's just to get Swizzle. You can deal with it, just do it. "Alright Reed, let's get 'em." I say. He gets a devious grin on his face.

We get near the garage and I look at Reed. "Ready?" I ask. "You know it." He says smirking and offering me his arm.

I grab his arm and put a flirting smile on my face.

**(Candlehead's POV)**

I was talking to Snowana outside the garage. We were laughing about something and she continues, "Yeah and then… No way." She's looking at something behind me. I turn around and my mouth falls open. Sticky was walking in smiling, flirting, and touching… Reed?!

What is up with him?!

Yesterday he was letting Crumbelina be all over him and now Sticky! Okay, I may have broken off with Reed because he was a loose cannon but, that still doesn't mean that I'm just _okay _seeing him with other girls.

"Wow, I didn't think Sticky was into Reed, did you?" Snowana asks shocked. "No… I did not." I say through slightly gritted teeth. She was whispering something in his ear and he was smirking and laughing.

That little… no you're above that.

Then I see Reed put his hands on her waist and whisper something in her ear. She started laughing and I couldn't take it anymore. I started to run into the garage. I get to my section, slam the door, and scream.

_**After the arcade closes**_

**(Swizzle's POV)**

I was talking to Torvald and Jubilienna when I saw Sticky walking past me.

What? No hi?

Then she stopped at Reed's area and looked in the doorway. What's she doing? Then Reed came out and leaned on the wall smirking at her. "Uh, excuse me." I say and leave Torvald and Jubilienna. My eyes fixed on Sticky and Reed. I get to an area where I could spy on them and listen in.

I couldn't get the first part but I heard Sticky say, "… I like strong guys you know?" "Well, I'm definitely strong. As you probably already know." He says arrogantly with a smirk. What the hell? Sticky was touching his arms and Reed wraps his arms around her waist and started whispering stuff in her ear and she was giggling.

This is so sick! She's letting that grease ball touch her and flirt with her?!

I decided I needed to stop this. I walk up to them and cross my arms. "Um Sticky, can I talk to you for a sec?" I ask/demand. She looks at me and says, "Sure Swizzle." She looks back at Reed, smirks, runs her hand down the right side of his jaw and says, "I'll be right back." He smirks and gives her a wink.

Okay, I seriously want to puke.

"C'mon." I say and drag her outside behind the garage. "Hey, what's your problem?" She says ripping her hand away from me. "Are you out of your damn mind?" I ask her. "What are you talking about?" She says. "About Reed that's who!" I yell but, get back under control. "What about it?" She asks crossing her arms.

"How can you flirt with that guy? He's a total manipulative snake." I say. "Reed isn't that bad." She says coyly with a smirk.

"He's just using you." I say. "Swizzle, really? What I do is none of your concern. Why do you even care? You're not my boyfriend." She says and I stay quiet. I had nothing else to say; she had me. Why should I care? Friends don't get jealous of people hitting on their friends.

"Now if you excuse me; I can't keep Reed waiting." She says and turns around.

Seriously, what the hell is going on?!

**(Reed's POV)**

I was waiting for Sticky in the place we met up at this morning. She walked in smirking.

"How'd Lolly pop dork take it?" I ask. "Let's just say _this_ is really getting to him." She says smiling. "This is too great. Candlehead and Swizz are both feeling this. We have them right where we want them." I say smirking.

This plan is working great.

"So, now we need to talk about phase 2." I say. "Phase 2?" She questions raising an eyebrow at me. I grin slyly. "Well yeah, flirting is just kindling to the fire. In a few days we need to step up our game and fully put the fire ablaze." I explain. "So… you're suggesting that I… I mean we are going to have to…" She stutters and looks like she tries not to be disgusted.

"Look toots, you're just kissing me; you don't have to marry me." I say with a snide laugh. She gives me a cross look. "Besides, kissing is the key to making them break. Trust me; I know what I'm doing." I say. She gives me a curt nod. "Good." I say and get up and walk back to the row.

At this rate, I'll have Candlehead back with me in no time.

**Is the plan going to follow through? Keep reading to find out. Thanks for reading and reviews are always appreciated. (:**


	17. Chapter 17

**How will the plan turn out? Keep reading…**

**[This chapter has suggestiveness. Just a fair warning. No flames please.]**

**(Sticky's POV)**

Today is _the day_.

I've been mentally preparing for it. I don't really want to kiss Reed. I still think he's horrible but, it's like he said; it's just a kiss. Besides, hopefully after this kiss… it will drive Swizzle over the edge and this whole mind game will be a success.

Reed says we're gonna try to initiate the final phase when the arcade closes.

The random roster race is about to start so, I get in my kart. I really hope this plan works.

**(Candlehead's POV)**

I was staring down Reed and Sticky.

Everyday it's been getting worse. The warzone in my mind just keeps getting more explosive and hectic.

"This is disgusting." I look and see Swizzle next to me. "I know; that little home wrecker." I say glaring at Sticky. "What are you talking about? Reed is obviously the total cause behind this." Swizzle says agitated. "Yeah, right? Like Sticky is totally innocent in this. Look at her touching him and batting her eyes at him." I say but, in my mind I'm thinking much more horribly than I say.

I want to rip her apart.

"Look at that grease ball using his tricks to manipulate her. This is so sick." He says repulsed.

I roll my eyes. He's never going to see Sticky as equally guilty as Reed. Then, I see something that makes all the color from my face drain out then refill me with anger. Sticky put her hands on Reed's shoulders and pulled him down to kiss him. He pulled her closer and I was gritting my teeth.

"That's it!" Swizzle says angry through his teeth.

He runs up to them, pulls them apart and punches Reed in the face so hard he fell over. "Get your gross, greasy mouth off her!" He yells at Reed and puts Sticky behind him. No one hits Reed like that and gets away with it. '

He's _**mine**_!

**(Reed's POV)**

I was on the ground and I was about to start a fake confrontation with Swizzle when Candlehead came out of nowhere and slapped him.

"You don't punch him ever. Got it!" She says and I can tell she cracked. I kind of like this side of her. She's very up front. "And you. I never want to see you touch him again. Capiesh!" She warns pointing to Sticky. Holy crap, it worked!

"C'mon, let's go." She says well more like demands grabbing my arm and dragging me away. I don't usually like being bossed around but, this is kind of awesome.

"Where are…" "Shut up." She says determined. Well, I'm in the soup. I have no idea what she's thinking but, I really want to know what she has planned. She's either going to go berserk, be all over me, or both.

We get to the row. It's a total ghost town because; everyone is still at the garage. We get to her house and I still have no idea what she's gonna do to me. She pulls me into the front door with her and slams the door shut behind us and then, she pushes me against the door and kisses me really intensely. Whoa! She breaks away and looks at me serious and determined.

"Reed Hoitts, I'm so sick of this. You're mine and I want to prove you're mine to everyone else. So… either comply or I'm gonna make you comply." She says and pulls off my jacket and throws it aside. I really like this intense side of her. I want to say a smartass comment about her bringing this on herself but, I bite my tongue. I finally have her and I don't want to lose her again.

"Reed, I know what you want…" She says and pulls off her jacket and tosses it behind her. "You're clever, so connect the dots… What do you think I want?" She says and wraps her arms around my neck then looks me right in my eyes intensely. Am I going crazy or is she asking what I think she's asking?

I lean down and kiss her to test my luck. I turn her so her back is against the wall. She was running her hands through my hair and I couldn't believe this was happening. She wraps her legs around my waist and I help hold her there. She reaches down and grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls it over my head. She looks me over smirks then keeps kissing me.

This is _way_ better than any outcome I could think of.

"Reed…" She says looking into my eyes again. I know what she wants from me. I'm not going to lie; I want her too. The basic layout of all our houses is similar so I continue to kiss her and carry her to her room. I open the door and I found it. I slam the door shut behind us.

If she wants me… then she's going to have me.

_**15 minutes earlier**_

**(Rancis's POV)**

I was sitting with Vanellope talking in the garage. We eventually get up and walk outside together. Tonight we were having our first group hang out in months. We get outside and join everyone else. "So is everyone here?" Vanellope asks looking around. "Wait, where's Candlehead?" Taffyta says. "Yeah, Reed's not here either." Gloyd says.

"That's cuz they're not." Swizz says and Sticky was walking close behind him.

"Well, where are they then?" Vanellope asks impatiently. "Candlehead was dragging him back to the row. She looked really mad." Sticky says but, I could tell that wasn't the whole story.

Everyone started talking in hushed voices then Vanellope got everyone's attention. "I think we need to check the situation. I want to make sure everything is alright." Vanellope says and she grabs my hand and we start walking to the row.

I'm really confused and lost. This could be leading to anything.

* * *

We get to the row and we hear a muffled scream coming from Candlehead's house. Oh crap. "Oh my god, he's killing her!" Jubilienna yells freaked out. All the girls looked beyond freaked out and started screaming .

"EVERYONE! Calm down. We can get to the bottom of this. Rancis, Gloyd, Swizzle; go check if she's alright." Vanellope says. "Ugh, why do we need to check?" Gloyd asks. I smack him upside the head and say, "Gloyd, stop being such a wuss. Candlehead is our friend and we need to make sure everything is cool." Both Swizz and Gloyd sigh in defeat.

Vanellope gives my hand a reassuring squeeze and we smile at each other before I let go.

I rip a pretty good size peppermint stick off a tree. Hey, I've fought Reed before and I want to make sure I'm prepared this time. We get to the door and it's still open. "Alright, 1… 2… 3!" I say and fling the door open. I hold up my weapon but there was… nothing. "What?" I say under my breath.

We walk in and look around. "Guys look." Gloyd says holding up a red shirt. "That has to be Reed's, right?" I say. Swizzle takes it, gives it a quick whiff, gags, then throws it on the ground. "Yeah, that's Reed's alright. The smell of cinnamon is enough to choke out a mob." Swizzle says trying to regain his composure.

"Hey is that Candlehead's jacket on the floor?" Swizzle says. I turn around and pick up this pink blazer. "I'm 100% sure it's hers." I say looking at it.

"What? I found Reed's jacket too." Gloyd says picking up Reed's signature bomber jacket. I put my hand on my head and run my fingers through my hair. "Alright, I'm really confus…" "Shhh, guys do you hear something?" Swizzle says trying to concentrate.

I listen and I heard a weird mixture of different, muffled sounds. I have no idea what it is. We walk down the hallway and follow… whatever the hell we're listening to. We were getting near her room when we heard behind the door, "Ooohhh Reed…"

Wait… What? I look back at Gloyd and Swizzle who looked just as confused as me. Gloyd pushes me out of the way and puts his ear to the door. Me and Swizzle just looked at him.

He looked like he was thinking then it's like he had an epiphany and then looked like he was gonna freak out. He took his ear off the door and said, "Guys, just my opinion but, they're hooking up in there. I mean _really _hooking up." He says. I was in shock but, I really wanted to make sure it was really true.

Swizz and I ran up to the door and listened. Gloyd was right. It was blatantly obvious. Reed and Candlehead were definitely _there_.

"No way." I say surprised.

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I really hope Candlehead is okay. The guys have been in there awhile too. Seriously, I'm really stressing out over this.

Then, the door reopens and all 3 of the guys walked out and shut the door and all three of them were smirking and looked like they were trying not to break out in fits of laughter. They walk up to us and then smirk at each other. "So…" Taffyta says. "So what, Taff?" Gloyd asks smirking. "Is Candlehead okay?" Taffyta asks concerned.

"Oh, I'm definitely sure she's okay." Gloyd says knowingly and Swizzle adds, "Yeah, probably _way _more than okay." Then all three guys start letting out immature laughs, even Rancis! "Look, what are you 3 idiots laughing about? I don't see what's so funny about this." Taffyta says and then Gloyd walks up to her smirking.

"Babe…" He says then leans over and whispers something in her ear.

Her eyes get wide as saucers and she grabs him by the shoulders and yells, "Are you kidding?" "No way Taff. We know what we heard." He says smirking back at Rancis and Swizzle. She pushes him away and walks in circles and looked like she was trying to really figure something out.

"Rancis what is going on?" I ask really lost. "Hey Sweetheart…" He says then whispers in my ear, "Reed and Candlehead are hooking up." It took me a second to have the ah-ha moment. Candlehead told me her and Reed had a thing but, I didn't know this sort of thing was going on.

"Vanellope what's going on?" Minty asks really lost like I was. Taffyta came back still in shock and I said, "Okay, we don't need to talk about this now. Let's just go home and deal with this tomorrow." I don't really want to bother Candlehead since she's one of my closest friends and I respect her privacy.

I just hope she doesn't regret what she's doing.

**Like I said, I gave a fair warning. But, Reed is Sugar Rush's bad boy so what do you expect. Again, please no flames and what will happen next? Find out in chapter 18. Thanks for reading as always.**


	18. Chapter 18

**This chapter begins the morning after last chapter. Enjoy!**

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I got Taffyta and we walked over to Candlehead's really early in the morning. Since, we were the only ones who sort of know what happened, we figured we should be the ones to talk to her first. I knock on her door and we wait.

The door opens and Candlehead was smiling like she used to weeks ago. "Hey. What's up?" She asks.

"Um, we're pretty sure we know what's up." Taffyta says and Candlehead blushes. "You know?" She says. "We could hear from the street but, the guys told us what they thought was happening and we just want to make sure we aren't making any false statements here. Did you and Reed… _hook up_ last night?" I ask.

"Come inside." She says and pulls us in then closes the door.

"Okay, I did hook up with Reed. It was completely my idea. He just filled in the blanks." She says and blushes again smiling. "Also, you guys are my closest friends and I'm going to show you something if you promise not to freak out." She says and Taffyta and I follow her to her room.

She opens the door and turns on the light. "Wow… This is…. Just wow." I say looking at the current state of her room.

Everything looked destroyed. Her dresser and mirror were probably the only things untouched.

But, everything around the bed was broken, the head board was cracked in half like someone took an ax to it, and there were dents in the wall. "Yeah, Reed got a little carried away but, I was too into it to care. I really don't care that much now." Candlehead says smiling.

Taffyta was in shock looking at everything and so was I.

"So, you don't regret it?" I manage to ask. "Are you kidding? No way. Sure Reed is rough around the edges but, he is so _perfect_." She says with a sigh.

* * *

Later that morning Reed was with Candlehead looking closer than ever.

He was hugging her from behind and whispering things to her making her laugh. All the other girls were disappointed now that they know that they have no chance with Reed. I thought I was going to have to pry Reed and Candlehead apart with a crowbar to get them to get to the starting line.

But, they weren't the only one's acting differently.

I said hi to Rancis like I usually do and he bit his lip and looked away from me. He was acting really jumpy all morning. Well, I need to focus now. Duty calls.

* * *

I decide to talk to Taffyta since she's the closest person to my situation.

"Hey Taffyta, can I ask you something?" I ask walking in her area. "Yeah, what's up?" She asks putting the final bolt back in place on her tire. I sigh and start, "Okay, Rancis has been acting kind of off today…" "Wait, has he been acting all twitchy and squirrelly too?" She asks intrigued.

"Yeah." I say. "Good, then it's not just me. Gloyd has been acting really off all morning. He wouldn't even talk to me today. He kept getting this look on his face like he wanted to tell me something but, he couldn't." She explains. "Rancis has been the exact same." I comment.

"What do you think is up with them?" She asks. "I have no idea." I say.

"Vanellope." I look behind me and see Rancis. "Hey. " I say and smile. "Uh, wanna go walk with me?" He asks kind of uptight but, manages a smile. "Sure, bye Taff." I say and walk up to Rancis and hold his hand. He tensed up a little then slightly relaxed.

"Are you okay?" I ask as we start walking. "H-huh? Oh, uh, yeah I'm great." He stutters and tries to smile. I wasn't buying that. In my gut I feel like this has something to do with what happened yesterday. We get to this knoll in the cocnut grass fields and sit down.

"Rancis, seriously, what's up with you? You barely talk or look at me all day. You can tell me what's wrong." I say and look at him. He lets out a deep breath then says, "Alright, I can't flat out tell you what's wrong. I think you'll know what I mean when I say that I don't want to force anything on you." His look was complete guilt.

"Rancis, I know what you're feeling but, you just need to be patient. I'm just not mentally ready for it yet." I say. "Trust me, I'm really really trying to be. I won't do anything until you feel ready." He says and puts his arm over my shoulders.

I smile and say, "Thanks Rancis." He kisses my forehead and says, "I love you." I smile at him and give him a light kiss back.

**(Taffyta's POV)**

I really need to know what is up with Gloyd. I walk up to his door and I knock. He opens the door and he gulps then smiles at me.

"H-hey Taff." He says nervous but, manages to smile. "Um, can we talk?" I ask and he lets me in and he just watched me walking for a second. He shook his head a couple times then followed me to the couch.

"So, uh, what's up?" He asks and I can see his fingers drumming nervously on his knee. Seriously something is up with him. "Look what is wrong with you? You've been acting weird all day." I say. "Um, do I have to?" He says trying to dodge it. "Yes, I want to know why you're acting weird." I say getting impatient.

He looked me up and down quickly then scooted closer to me and put his arm around my shoulders and there was a look I saw in his eyes. I knew what it was too. He leaned in and kissed me. His other hand went to my cheek then went to my shoulder and down my side. It got to my hip and then my eyes widened when it drifted to my thigh. He picked me up put me in his lap and he kept kissing me.

His hands move to my shoulders and he pulls off my jacket and throws it behind the couch. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly is wrong with him. He seems normal right now. I pull off his jacket and throw it behind the couch where mine was. I wrap my arms tighter around his neck and then I feel his hands leave me for a second then go to my hips.

Then I feel something touching my stomach and moving up under my shirt and I pull away from him. I stare at him with my mouth hanging open. His hands didn't go up that far but, I knew what he was going for.

"Babe, I'm sorry." He says taking his hands out from under my shirt. "Well, now I know what you want but, I'm not ready for that." I say.

"Why? Look at Reed and Candlehead. It worked out great for them." He says and I can see the desperation in his eyes and hear it in his voice. "I only want this with you cuz I love you, Taffyta." He says out of nowhere. My eyes went wide. He's never said that to me. "I mean it. I love you." He says again sounding serious.

"Y-you love me?" I say. "Yeah, I always have." He admits. I'm scared. I love him too but, I'm just not ready for what he wants.

"Look Gloyd, I love you too," I start and he smiles at me, "But, I'm just not ready for that. I don't think we need to go there just because someone else did. Can't you wait just a little longer for me to be ready?" I ask. "Yeah, I can. I'm sorry. I shouldn't force you." He says hanging his head. I lift up his chin with my hand to make him look at me.

"Look, I said I'm not ready but that doesn't mean I'm totally opposed to the idea." I hint smiling and run my hand threw his hair. He grins slyly at me and says, "So, you need to prepare huh?"

I roll my eyes and push him a little. I get up, smirk, and say, "Don't get full of yourself, darling." He lets out a laugh and gets up and puts his arms around me. "Don't worry I'm just messing with you." He says and kisses me.

"I love you." He says and looks into my eyes. I will admit that no matter how annoying I say he is… there is something about him that's endearing. "I love you too." I say and kiss him back then I get my jacket and leave.

Well, hopefully now he'll stop acting so weird.

**Next chapter will be the group hang out at the lagoon. Thanks for reading and please review. (:**


	19. Chapter 19

**This chapter reveals a new identity. Hope you like it. (:**

**(Rancis's POV)**

I was hanging out with the guys outside the garage. Swizzle and Reed are actually on sort-of good terms now so, there hasn't been too many fights. Actually Reed hasn't into a fight in awhile.

"Hey guys, I saw some pretty good dunes and hills early off of track 4." Reed says. "Are you saying what I think your saying?" Swizzle says getting hyped up like the adrenalin junkie he is. "Precisely, let's go for a little test run on 'em." Reed says and we all were excited to do something.

I walked in and went to Vanellope's section. Ever since our little talk last week, I keep telling myself to be patient. But, I know I'm just being selfish so, I just need to let her take her time with it. But, Gloyd's having the same problem as me so that makes me feel a little better.

"Hey _sweetheart_." I say and smile at her. She looks at me and smiles. "Hey butterfingers." She says kisses me.

"Just wanted to let you know I'm going out with the guys." I say. "Alright, have fun." She says and kisses me before walking out of the garage. I let out a sigh as I watch her leave.

I walk back to my section and get in my kart. I see Candlehead walk by and go to the section next to mine: Reed's.

"Hey." She says flirty. "Hey gorgeous." He says and I hear the smirk he has on his face by his voice. "Taffyta said you were going out with the guys." She says. "Yeah, but don't worry about it. Wait up for me." He says. "I don't usually worry. But, I'll definitely wait up for you." She says flirty. He laughs and I can hear them kissing obnoxiously from the other side of the wall. I roll my eyes and start my engine to block out the noise.

They are mostly the reason why Gloyd and I are going crazy.

I drive out side and eventually we are all out and we drive off. We were heading to the brown sugar dunes. We've never gone there but, we something new to do. We start driving off small hills and drifting up and down dunes. It was pretty fun.

"Guys watch this!" Gloyd says. He was on top of a really tall dune. He hits the gas the punches it when he get half way down the dune. He was going really fast and flew off another dune but, Gloyd disappeared then, we hear a crash. "Aw, that hurt." He says wincing. He sounded sort of a ways off. "You alright?" Swizz yells. "Yeah, I'm… whoa, guys you need to see this!" Gloyd yells.

We all look at each other then Reed says, "This better be good." We drive around the dunes and we find Gloyd covered in brown sugar but, the game at least fixed his kart. I looked at this sign: _Welcome to cookie cove. _Cookie cove is an area that's in between the dunes and the Ice cream Mountains. It's kind of cool here. "Alright Gloyd, its freezing here so what is it?" Reed says annoyed.

There was an area that had a large pile of crumbled giant cookies leading up to the mountain. It is kind of out of place. We walk over to it and look at it. "What the hell is it?" Reed asks. "Looks like a landslide happened." I say and notice a gap in the rock. I kept seeing something reflecting light.

"Guys let's move this. I see something" I say and they help me move the large chunks of cookie out of the way.

It was pitch black. "It's dark." Gloyd says. "No duh." Swizz says smacking him upside the head. "Don't worry boys I got this." Reed says and drives his kart over and shines his head lights in the cave. "Nice." I say in approval. He gets an arrogant grin on his face.

We walk in and we see a wall of ice. But, it was what was in it that was what interested us. It was a person. The ice was frosted over but, we knew enough by the blurry picture we got that it was a guy and by the looks of the melting ice, he was coming.

"Great, another one." Swizz says and I hear Reed grunt angry. "Sorry man." Swizzle says defensively.

"Should we tell anyone?" Gloyd asks. "We don't have to, when he gets here; he gets here." I say and keep looking at it. If last time we got Reed, then this guy should definitely be interesting.

_**2 days later**_

**(Vanellope's POV)**

We were finally able to hang out at the lagoon today.

Since, it was put on hold since about a week ago when Reed and Candlehead stopped it. But, I was making my way over from the castle and Rancis was standing out front waiting for me. "Ready _sweetheart_?" He asks. I grab his hand and say, "Definitely, let's go." We get to the lagoon and the party already started. We were hanging out, laughing, and swimming.

Swizzle and Reed looked like they were talking then Swizzle got this smirk on his face and ran to the top of the cliff and did a dive with two flips in the air and into the water. "Ha! Top that Hoitts!" Swizz taunts. "Gladly." Reed says arrogantly and cracks his knuckles. Reed gets to the top and does a back flip off the point and did two more flips then followed it with a cannonball in the water. Swizzle looked mad. He was beat. "Better luck next time buddy." Reed says with a snide grin as he pats Swizzle on the back.

He got out and sat next Candlehead on shore and they started kissing. A lot of the girls were still disappointed especially since they are looking at Reed in nothing but swim trunks and they can't even have him. We all sit nearer to each other as the sun goes down and look at the fire that Reed started for us. Rancis was sitting next to me and put his arm around me. It was a really good day as far as hanging out. Reed was actually behaving pretty well.

We were quiet for a second then Minty says, "So, do you think any new racers will be unlocked soon?" "Maybe, but I don't know." I say but I notice all the guys get knowing grins on their faces.

"What's going on? Got anything to share boys?" I ask. "No." They all say. "C'mon you all know something now spill." I say. "We did find a new racer in cookie cove. And whoever he is looks like he's coming soon." Rancis says. "He?" Minty questions and all the girls look lifted up.

Not that I can blame them, Reed was the first to come in and he kind of set the bar high in the desirability department.

"Yeah, we can tell he's a guy through the ice he's trapped in." Reed says. Well, this should get interesting. Hope the new guy is prepared for 8 girls to chase after him.

**Who's this new mystery racer? Find out in chapter 20. Thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated.**


	20. Chapter 20

**So, who is this new racer? Keep reading and hope you like the new OC I came up with. I've been working on this chapter and OC periodically over the last couple weeks. **

_**2 weeks and 3 days later**_

**(Vanellope's POV)**

It was just another day on the track and I thought I was going to win on this last race but Gloyd was able to pass me at the last second and win. We all get across the finish line and Gloyd is celebrating with his trophy. The arcade was closed and after each day I've been keeping an eye out for any signs of the new racer.

Rancis came up next to me and said, "Nothing yet huh?" "Nope, not yet." I reply.

Then the ground starts to tremor like it did when Reed came. This is it. He's coming; whoever he is? A new section of the garage pops up and Then I saw a blizzard coming from the Ice cream Mountains and heading toward the row and I see it drop something in the shape of a house. Okay, there's his house but, where's the actual person? Then a stream of lights light up the sky and it makes an arrow pointing in the direction of Cookie Cove.

"New Racer Unlocked!" The announcer says.

"That's our cue." I say and go to my kart. "EVERYONE! Follow me!" I say and everyone follows my lead. I'm curious to meet this new guy. I mean if the last time gave us Reed, who really shook things up, then who knows what this guy is going to be like.

We get to the cove and get out. We look around but, we notice the guys are gravitating toward this cave looking thing.

"I think he's still in there." Gloyd says. I nod at Rancis and he says, "Alright, let's see what's going on guys." They walk in and I hear Reed say, "Ah, dude's still half frozen." Half frozen? "C'mon, let's put him in the light." Rancis says and then we heard dragging.

They were dragging him by his legs out of the cave and into the light. He literally was still half frozen. His legs were unfrozen but his torso up was still encased in ice.

We all just looked at him then the ice started to melt faster. Slowly ice melted away and as it went up I realized he was taller and slightly leaner than the other guys. Also, he was dressed differently. Not like Reed different but, like the exact opposite. His style looked very sharp and put together.

His face was still coated in ice but then it melted and we could finally see it. He looked very clean cut, handsome, well-groomed, classy and… refined.

"New avatar, Alden Amaretto!" The announcer rang and we just looked at him. Alden, that's an interesting name.

"Is he okay?" Jubilienna asks. "Maybe he's out cold like I was." Reed suggests kicking Alden's boot lightly. Then Alden's eyes opened revealing these dark-deep blue eyes.

He shot up and started yelling and looked panicked. "Get out! It's coming down!" He yells at us and he was running around frantic. We just stare at him. He continues yelling and then he goes to Crumbelina on his knees and pleads holding on the hem of her jacket, "Don't make me go back in there! You can't make me!" He looked like he totally lost it and I look at Crumbelina and she looked like she felt really bad for him. Then, he collapses on the ground and starts shaking holding his knees close to his body.

We were all shocked. I had no idea what just happened. Rancis kneeled down next him and said, "Hey buddy, it's alright. You're all cool."

Alden was still shaking and the guys put him in Reed's kart and we drove back to the row. Well, that was really interesting. We find his house which looked just as refined as his style did.

"So, what do we do with basket case here?" Reed asks pointing to Alden who was sitting on the ground looking out at the street still holding his knees close. "Take him home I guess but, does anyone want to watch him?" I ask not wanting to leave Alden alone the way he was. It was quiet then Crumbelina stepped forward and kneeled next to Alden and put her hand on his shoulder. "I will." She says and unlike the first time with Reed, no one was eager to jump in and fight for the job. Everyone was too in shock.

The guys help guide Alden into his house and Crumbelina follows them. Well, here I go again. I said goodbye Rancis and gave him a kiss before going back to the castle. I walked in and went straight to the code vault.

I really need answers on Alden even more than Reed. After today's reaction from him, I really need to get his background. I dive into the code vault and see the new code: _Alden Amaretto._

I touch it and his information pops up. I start to read it:

* * *

**Name: **Alden Amaretto

**Gender: **Male

**Age: **16

**Stereotype: **Shell-shocked Socialite

**Personality: **refined, friendly, gentlemanly, quiet, calm, mentally scarred from a past experience

**Hair: **Short, straight, cropped, rich caramel colored hair with a left- off center part and plastered down

**Eyes: **Royal Blue

**Features: **slightly taller, lean, pale skin, looks outwardly put together/refined

**Likes:** racing**, **proving himself, being useful, having his mind in check, keeping his standards

**Dislikes: **disorder, uncalled for behavior, men disrespecting women

**Attire: **crème colored blazer with gold cuffs and buttons and 2 gold A's stitched into the left side of the blazer, crème colored pants held up by black licorice suspenders under his jacket, copper colored button up dress shirt, carries a gold pocket watch in an inner pocket of his blazer, black licorice Italian boots with chocolate syrup soles, deep chocolate colored fedora (wears it outside his house when he's not racing), chocolate colored gloves (for racing only), old style Aviator helmet with goggles (for racing only).

**Kart (name/description): **_**'The Gelatornater' **_Made from the finest gelato, the Gelatornater is, as the name depicts, ornate. It represents everything Alden stands for in racing and life: speed, precision, and; most importantly; class. It has a body made from vanilla, chocolate, and amaretto flavored gelato. His power up "the refinery" causes a slippery situation for the racers left in his wake. The kart was spared no expense in making it the best money can buy.

**Description: **_**"Calm, Cool, and not so collected" **_Named for an ice cream producer and an Italian liqueur added to different ice creams and gelatos, Alden Amaretto is smooth and groomed to perfection… most of the time. Alden was caught in an avalanche that caused him to be trapped in the remnants of a landslide and develop nervous and unsettled behavior at times. This behavior in his _episodes_ is similar to someone whose experienced shell shock. During that period of time, people usually label him as crazy but, that's only what he is 1 out of 10 times. Alden is a refined, calm, gentlemanly socialite. He has his standards on his appearance and behavior that he likes to keep. He's a quiet guy with big ambitions. Being the oldest racer, he likes to hold a reputation of being the mature figure. He also, likes to offer his help to anyone who needs it. While off the track he can be uneasy, on the track he is calm and ready to compete. His racing style is like his personality; smooth and refined. So, don't let his panic-attacks fool you… Alden Amaretto is not to be under estimated.

* * *

Okay, well Alden seems like a good guy with a couple loose ends but, I just hope he's recovering from his panic attack earlier. I was surprised Crumbelina stepped forward like that. She's usually not the care giver type unless it benefits her but she looked like she genuinely wanted to help him.

I wonder how that's working out.

**(Crumbelina's POV)**

I tried many different things to calm Alden down. I rubbed his shoulders, putting a hot towel on his neck, rubbing in small circles on his back.

I don't know why I'm here? I just felt like I had to help him. He reached out to me during his _episode _or whatever that was and I looked into his eyes and saw he really needed help. I felt really bad for him. Also, he isn't that bad to look at. Forget Reed, Alden is the most well put together, classy guy I've ever seen.

I'm watching Alden staring at a wall while he sat on his couch then he took a sharp breath in and let it out then his expression relaxed.

He looked around the room and then at me. He smiled at me and my heart fluttered. He was really charming. He gets up and gets down on one knee in front of me and takes my hand. I stared at him shocked. "Evening miss, my name is Alden, Alden Amaretto." He says very formal and kisses my hand.

Okay, he went from being a nervous wreck to calm and collected. "Hi Alden. I'm Crumbelina." I say uneasy. "Are you okay?" He asks sort of concerned for me. "Um, are you okay?" I ask back. "Oh, I'm perfectly alright… Why? Wait, did I start yelling and going cuckoo?" He asks and I nod.

"Ah, I'm so sorry. I have these episodes that I go through every now and then. I'm sorry if I frightened you." He says very apologetic and let's go of my hand. He sits back down and runs his hand through his hair. "You probably think I'm a mentally unstable freak don't you?" He asks very down on himself. I felt the guilt come back.

"No." I say honestly. "You just feel sorry for me." He says getting up and started to take off his blazer and hangs it on a coat rack by his front door that had a fedora resting above it on a hook. I was about to say something when he turns to me and says, "Excuse me miss." Then he walks into what I assume is his bedroom. I follow him because I wasn't done talking yet.

"Alden?" I say as I walk in and see him sitting on the foot of his bed running his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I know you mean well. But, I want to be alone." He says and I say, "Sorry Alden, no. I'm not leaving until you let me talk." I was being firm because he kept avoiding me. He looks at me and his eyes make me forget what I doing for a split second. "I really don't think you are a freak. I can see you are a really good guy." I say honestly trying to make him feel better.

"I appreciate that but, I'm sorry, I just don't fully believe you. I mean who in their right mind would like a mentally unstable loon like me?" He says. "Um, I would. Alden, stop being so down on yourself. I would do anything to make you feel better." I say honestly. "I highly doubt _anything_ can make me feel better." He says still down on himself again.

I was so sick of this but I had an idea in mind of how to cheer him up. I smile coyly at him. "What about this?" I say and sneak a quick peck on his lips. He looks at me with wide eyes and I could see a light red color coming up on his cheeks. It was kind of cute. "You really must feel sorry for me." He says looking at the floor.

I roll my eyes. This guy is impossible.

"Alden, I just kissed you. Enjoy it." I say and weave my fingers of my hand with his. He looks up at me and smiles.

As far as I can see from Alden, he's a really polite and sweet guy. I noticed it was late and I was getting up. "I need to go home, night Alden." I say and walk out but, he says, "Wait ma'am." I look behind me and I say, "What is it?" "It's just that its dark out and I was wondering if you would allow me to walk you home." He asks very cordial.

Alden really is a gentleman. "Sure, I'd like that." I say and smile.

I walk to the door and he puts his blazer back on and buttons it up. Then, he puts his fedora on his head and opens his door for me. We get outside and he offers me his arm. "Allow me." He says smiling. I link my arm with his.

Wow, chivalry, not something I'm used to.

I show him where I live and he walks me to my house. We get to my front door unnoticed since everyone was sleeping by now. "Good night Crumbelina." He says and kisses my hand like earlier. I smile and kiss his cheek. He had that look like he did when I kissed him earlier. Then, he got this cute grin on his face. "Night Alden." I say and go inside.

Okay, Alden is seriously really cute and sweet. He's very unique and genuine and I can't wait to see him again tomorrow.

**Not what you were expecting right? Tell me your thoughts on Alden? I'd really like to hear them. As always, thanks for reading.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks for all the feedback on Alden. Well, here's chapter 21.**

**(Vanellope's POV)**

I wanted to see how Alden was today. Hopefully, he's somewhat recovered from yesterday when he woke up and freaked out.

It was early and I knocked on the door. I waited for a little while then the door opened. "Hello Alden, I'm Vanellope von Schweetz, president of Sugar Rush." I say and hold out my hand. "Pleasure to meet you Vanellope." He says and takes my hand and kisses it. Well, that was different… and kind of nice.

He gave me this very good-natured smile and said, "Please, come in." I walk in and sit in his living room.

"Can I get anything for you like something to eat or drink?" He asks being very host-like. "Um, no thanks, I actually just came by to welcome you and see how you were doing. You had a panic attack yesterday and I wanted to see if you were doing okay." I explain. "Oh, it's fully passed and I'm perfectly fine, thank you. By the way, I want to apologize for my behavior yesterday." He says sincere. "Oh its fine, we know you can't help it." I say and smile to reassure him.

"Also, just to be on the safe side, would you mind taking today off to rest while your information transfer goes through?" I ask. Last time I asked this question, it ended with my boyfriend getting hurt.

"Of course, I wouldn't mind a day to rest and get situated." He says understanding. Wow, this is very refreshing from Reed's attitude. I can get used to Alden easily.

"Well, you have a nice day off." I say and walk out. "Good luck racing today miss president and thank you for stopping by." He says very proper. "No problem and thank you." I say and walk out of the house.

Wow, Alden is a very nice guy, aside from his panic attacks.

* * *

I get to the garage and Rancis was waiting for me. "Hey _sweetheart_." He says with his signature smirk. "Hey." I say and give him a hug.

"So, how's the new guy today?" He asks. "Good and very nice, Alden is like Reed's polar opposite." I say. "Really? Well, that will make for interesting guys nights. So where is he?" Rancis asks. "He's staying home to rest while his information goes through today. He seemed cool with it." I say.

"Oh speaking of hang out nights, keep the guys occupied tonight. We're having a girl's only party tonight at the castle." I say. "Don't worry; I'll keep the wolves away." He assures and gives me a wink. I smirk and give him a kiss.

The random roster race was starting soon so we had to say goodbye for now.

* * *

I was waiting at the castle waiting for everyone to show up. "Your visitors are here." Sour Bill says. "Bring them in." I say with a smile. It doesn't take long for the party to get into full swing.

We're laughing and talking but, then Minty says, "Okay ladies, thoughts on the new guy?" "Yeah car-razy." Snowana says and everyone laughs.

"You shouldn't say that about him. You don't even know Alden." Crumbelina says trying to stick up for him. "I agree. That's really cruel to laugh at him. He's not a horrible person." I add.

"Hey, we're saying he's a little crazy, we didn't say he was horrible in other ways; like on the eyes." Adorabeezle says smirking. "Yeah, sure he's crazy but he's also crazy handsome." Torvald adds. I see Crumbelina getting unsettled by it.

"What's wrong Crumbelina? Did something happen between you two last night?" Candlehead asks slyly. "No, I'm classy and I just met him. Besides so is Alden. He is such a gentleman and he knows exactly how to treat a lady in every way." She says still sticking up for Alden's cause.

"That cuckoo clock knows how to be a gentleman?" Minty asks in disbelief.

"You shut your mouth." Crumbelina says firm. "Or what princess of posh? What are you gonna do anyway? Lecture me on manners and style 'til I'm bored?" Minty says snidely. "Ladies, c'mon, calm down. This is party. I don't want fighting here." I say firm.

"Sorry Vanellope." Crumbelina says and looks away from Minty. It was really awkward the rest of the time. Minty and Crumbelina kept giving each other glares. This is going to turn into a full fledge mental warfare. I'm sure of it.

_**Next morning**_

I was talking to Rancis outside the garage when Rancis looked up and saw Alden walking up to the garage. He was wearing his blazer and a fedora to tie it all together. He looked very sharp.

Alden noticed Snowana and Jubilienna looking at him.

He turned to them with a charming smile, tipped his hat at them, and said, "Good morning ladies." They're opinions of Alden from last night changed pretty quickly because they both looked like they were swooning over him immediately.

Alden kept walking and Snowana was whispering something to Jubilienna as he was walking away and they started blushing and giggling. Well, guess Alden made the leap from cuckoo clock to suave and sexy gentleman in their books.

"Wow, so that's the real Alden." Rancis says. "Yeah, the girls better watch out. He's quiet charming." I say. "Should I be worried?" He asks smirking. "No way, he's charming but I didn't say to me." I say and kiss him.

**(Crumbelina's POV)**

I walking in and I saw Alden ahead of me.

I saw Torvald and Adorabeezle stop talking and stare at him. He looks at them and stops. He flashes his signature smile, that makes my heart beat faster, at them and he tipped his hat. "Good morning ladies." He says still holding the smile. They started swooning and blushing over him. "H-hi." They both stutter blushing.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Alden Amaretto; it's a pleasure to meet both of you." He says very proper. Then, he kisses both of their hands. I tried to look on the bright side, Alden went the whole 9 yards to kiss my hand and he didn't do that for them.

They were swooning even more over him. Wait; let me see if I can break this up. If Alden is like any gentleman and if he likes me, he'll excuse himself politely from them to talk to me when I walk by.

I walk with purpose past him and I see him notice me and he actually takes off his hat as he watches me walk by. I smile at him before looking away. "Um, excuse me ladies. Pardon my leave." He says politely and then I hear him start to walk fast. I smile to myself.

Hook, line, and sinker.

"Crumbelina, good morning." He says walking next to me to my section. "Oh, hi Alden." I say pretending I didn't know he was trying to follow me. I start to work on my kart and I accidently get splattered in the face with syrup from my kart. "Perfect, I forgot my handkerchief at home." I say mad that I look like a mess in front of Alden.

"Oh, please, take mine." He says pulling out a handkerchief from a pocket on the inside of his blazer. "Oh thank you." I say and smile at him. "You're very welcome. Besides it's the least I can do for you." He says and I get lost in his royal blue eyes. I almost forgot who I was for a second.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to excuse myself. I need to tend to my kart." He says and smiles as he tips his hat at me. I can feel a light blush on my cheeks. "Bye Alden." I say and smile and add a subtle wink for good measure.

He walks backwards smiling at me and tries to walk in the hallway still looking at me but, runs into the doorway of my area distracted by me. He regains himself a little. "Oh, uh, that's a doorway." He stutters and walks away. Okay, that was really cute.

I have him right in the palm of my hand.

**Well, the girl's were quick to judge Alden and now they're complete hypocrites. Alden's first race is next chapter. (:**


	22. Chapter 22

**Alden's first race… Hope you like it. (:**

**(Vanellope's POV)**

We all line up at the starting line and I kept my eyes focused on the countdown. 3… 2… 1.. Go!

I shifted gears and put my pedal to the floor. I drifted on a turn then paid close attention to my surroundings. Crates were up ahead! I got one but simultaneously, Taffyta passed me up. I got my ability to glitch but, I'm gonna save that for later.

The track was snaking in and out of the mountains. We get to another turn and Reed drifts around us. I can't see his face but, I can tell he's smirking under that helmet. We continued like this and I was stalling to use my power up.

I saw something right next to me in a white, tan, and brown tri-colored kart: Alden.

He looked really relaxed but focused at the same time. He had only one hand on his wheel as he sped past us! It's like he was just going for a relaxing car ride. He got to Reed and Reed looked at him. Reed tried to run him off the road but Alden slowed a little and he put both hands on his wheel, and then used a sweet seeker to knock out Reed.

Then, Alden got another crate. "Power Up!" The announcer said.

Then this syrupy stuff that smelled like almonds came out the back of Alden's kart. That's when I started hydroplaning but, I managed to maintain my kart on the track, barely.

We were nearing the finish line and I used my power up to glitch in front of Alden and get first place. I get my trophy and I was about to go tell Alden he did a good job but he was already there next to me. He was holding out his hand. "Very well done president. Very good strategy on your part." Alden says smiling. I smile, shake his hand and say, "Thanks, you race very well yourself Alden." He smiles, does a quick nod, and says, "Thank you." Alden really is a good sport.

Rancis congratulated me like he usually does if I win. We all have to go to our karts though because the arcade opens in exactly one minute.

**(Crumbelina's POV)**

I walked past Alden's section after the arcade closes.

He was listening to old style jazz music on this record player looking thing. He was doing these slight shuffling moves with his feet as he was working on his kart.

I went to my section and worked but, then I heard, "Oh hello miss. Sorry I didn't see you there." "Oh it's okay." She says: Minty. I put my tools down right away and walk over to see her leaning in Alden's doorway. She looked like she was checking him out and smiling at him. That hypocritical, little…

"My name is Alden and what might your name be?" Alden asks politely. "I'm Minty. But, I saw you dancing and you seem very good on your feet." She says and I can sense the flirting in her voice. "Oh well, thank you. Do you like dancing?" He asks very friendly. "Who doesn't? Maybe you wouldn't mind showing me how good of a dancer you are." She asks.

That little flirt.

"Oh well, if you insist." Alden says very gentlemanly. I see her walking in and then I peek in the doorway and see her dancing with him and trying to flirt with him. She also wasn't dancing right and Alden had to keep correcting it. Okay, time to break this up like a lady.

"Is that the waltz?" I ask. Alden and Minty stop and look at me. Alden looked at me very impressed. "You know this dance?" He asks surprised. "Of course, I'm familiar with many sophisticated forms of dancing. In fact, I'm quiet proficient many other forms of dance." I explain. "Um, pardon my leave miss." He says to Minty. He walks over to me and says, "May I?" He flashed that smile at me again as he holds out a hand and I smiled and took his hand.

Minty was glaring at me and I just smiled. We moved in the sequence and Alden seemed very impressed. I was also impressed by Alden, I thought Rancis was a good dancer but Alden completely blows him out of the water.

"You're very sure on your feet." I say. "Thank you, so are you, if I might add." He says and smiles making me blush a little.

We were dancing still and then we heard someone else. "You call that dancing?" Reed says leaning in the doorway letting out an arrogant laugh. Minty walks out sensing a confrontation. I actually don't blame her. With Reed here, who knows what could happen?

"What are you talking about? This is dancing at its finest." Alden says. "Look, that kind of dancing is very dated. The East Coast Swing and Be-bop took its place for a reason in the 50's." Reed says. Alden let's go of me and walks over to Reed. "Yes, but those dances both evolved from the so called 'dated' dance you criticize me for doing." Alden states matter-of-factly.

"I'm just saying I can dance way better than whatever that was." Reed says.

It was kind of weird because they both looked intimidating in their own ways. Reed had the muscle but Alden had the clear height advantage. They were staring each other down.

"Really my good chap? Is that a challenge?" Alden asks smiling. "So what if it is? Care to accept?" Reed asks snidely getting in Alden's face. "Why not? I like a little friendly competition. Winner gets bragging rights?" Alden asks holding out his hand. Reed looks like he's about to shake Alden's hand but he reaches for his comb and smooths back his hair.

"You got it. But, be prepared Lord Lux, you might regret agreeing to this." Reed says walking out and pointing at Alden.

Alden looks back at me. "Well, he's kind of an arrogant chap, isn't he?" Alden says. "Don't mind Reed. He's usually full of himself." I say as a way of explaining Reed's attitude. "Well, maybe it's time someone put Reed in his place. If you wouldn't mind assisting me in doing so?" Alden inquires. "I'd be honored." I say smiling.

I'll do anything for Alden.

"Are you familiar with the foxtrot, Charleston, and early swing dancing?" Alden asks. "I think so. Yes." I say. "Well, let's go set that chap straight." Alden says offering me his arm which I gladly take.

**(Candlehead's POV)**

I was working on my kart when I heard my boyfriend, "Hey babe." "Hey ." I say and walk over to Reed.

We kiss for a little bit but the he says, "Alright, there's going to be a dance off between me and that new shwanz and I need your help." I let out a sigh and say, "Reed, why do you always have to one up everyone?" "Because, I want to show the new guy that I'm the alpha and I'm not to be messed with." He says.

"Besides, don't you want to dance with me?" He asks. Well, I wouldn't mind. Reed's probably an amazing dancer. He's good at everything. "Okay, sure. Why not?" I say and he smirks and puts his arm around my shoulders.

Alright, this could get interesting.

**(Crumbelina's POV)**

The news went around the garage and everyone was waiting outside the garage. Alden brought out his record player and Reed walked out. He had his arm around Candlehead and his other free hand was holding a record. "I brought my own music since your music is older than Methuselah." Reed says with a snide smirk.

Okay, why did I used to have a crush on him again? Oh, that's right, it's because I just was purely attracted to his looks but, Reed's personality is just so horrible. I'm so glad I'm over him.

"Your opinion, my good chap." Alden says curtly.

"Maybe I should go first to show you what good dancing looks like." Reed says with another snide grin. I couldn't believe how snide Reed is being to Alden. But, Alden just took a step back and motioned to the open space. "The floor is yours." Alden says with a good-natured grin.

Reed shoots Alden one more arrogant grin before starting up his record on the player. Then, he quickly took his place with Candlehead. They started doing the East Coast Swing but, I had to admit. I was impressed. He was lifting her up and doing these other lift moves with Candlehead for the complete purpose of showing off. Alden was just watching and smiling a little. They were done and Reed walked right up to Alden and said, "Good luck topping that Lord Lux."

"Well, you did do well Reed. I will say that." Alden says.

Alden looks at me and we walk out together. He takes off his fedora and blazer. He walks over to Adorabeezle. "Would you mind holding these for me, miss?" Alden asks politely. She takes them, blushing and sort of swooning over him. "S-sure Alden." She says. Alden smiles and says, "Thank you."

He walks over to the record player and puts on his music. It was a medium speed jazz song and Alden walks over to me and takes my waist and my left hand. We started doing the fox trot and I felt like I was floating. Alden was really good at this. The music sped up so we started doing a variation of a swing dance and everyone was watching in awe. Alden didn't stop smiling at me. Then, we started to do the Charleston and this one really blew me away. Alden was very quick with his feet. I couldn't believe it. Then the song was ending and Alden took me by surprise when he dipped me on the last note.

Everyone was silent. Then everyone cheered. Reed looked really mad. He was finally beaten. Candlehead followed him. Probably to help him through his tantrum. She's the only person it seems like who can.

I can't help but get a bad feeling about what just happened.

* * *

Alden walked me home and I thanked him for it. I was about to go in when, "Crumbelina, wait." "Yes Alden?" I say smiling. "Would you mind if I kissed you goodnight?" He asks cordial taking off his fedora. I blushed but smiled. He wants to kiss me!

"Alden, you don't need to ask for my permission. You can kiss me if you want to." I say.

He smiles and leans in and I had to go up on my toes because he was way taller than me. He kissed me lightly but it lingered on for a long time. He pulled away and all I saw were his eyes. I could stare at them forever. "Good night." He says. "Good night." I say back and I go in my house. I fell on my couch and sighed.

Alden kissed me!

**What's going to happen next? Find out next time. Thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated. (:**


	23. Chapter 23

**Thanks for all the reviews. Hope you like the newest chapter. (:**

**(Alden's POV)**

"Hi Alden." I look up from my work and see _her _walking by smiling at me. "Hi." I manage to say before she disappears.

I can't believe she allowed me to kiss her goodnight two days ago. I mean Crumbelina kissed me the first day she met me and I still couldn't believe it. She has class, style, manners, and yet she has interest in me; a mentally unstable lunatic.

When I'm not racing I want to spend every minute I can with her. I want to ask if I can court her and maybe take her on a walk. However it's difficult because all the girls here always want to talk to me and I can't just be rude and leave them in the lurch just because I want to chase after a specific girl.

But, she's the most beautiful and cultured girl I've ever met.

Then, I noticed it was really quiet. My music stopped playing. I look up and see that one chap… Reed I think if I go by my memory. He was looking at me very cross. "Oh I'm sorry my dear chap. Was my music too loud?" I say. He looks at me silent and then he takes my record off my player and he looks it over. Then he looks at me with this mischievous expression.

"Isn't it funny Allen how sometimes crap doesn't go the way you like it too?" He says. "Um my name is Alden and second that's just a parable of life. Sometimes it doesn't go the way you want it to." I state.

"Cuz, let's just say life is like this jazz record of yours here, Alex." "Um, Alden." I correct. "Whatever. As I was saying, Life and your reputation can be perfectly intact one minute and the next…" He says and then he breaks my record in half and throws it on the ground.

"Hey!" I say getting up off my stool and I give him a puzzled and angry expression. "Oh crap, I'm sorry man. Did I just do that?" He says snidely and the stomps on my record and uses his boot to grind it into the floor. "… And that?" He asks with a snide grin.

"What is your problem? That was my Duke Ellington limited edition, you Pill." I say upset. "Does it look like I give a crap about your crappy jazz music, pally?" He says back sarcastically. "Have you no respect for private property? Besides jazz is a lot better than that loud, horrendous music you like my dear fellow?" I say back in the same tone.

I'm not going to let some chap who's deciding to be a twit walk all over me. Someone needs to show him his place.

"Hey, my music is way better than yours _buddy_. The King outweighs the Duke." He says with a snide grin. "You take that back." I say getting in his face.

"Oh really gonna get in my face now huh? Well, how about this prep boy, hit me. I dare you." He says with a snide grin challenging me. I look around and I see we have pretty much everyone watching us. "Reed, I'm not going to fight with ladies present." I say firm.

He laughs and says, "Oh, I get it. You don't want to have the girl your sweet on see you running home with your tail between your legs." "It's not my status of reputation I'm worried about. A proper gentleman doesn't fight in front of ladies." I say adamant. "Does it look like I give a crap?" Reed says smirking and balling up his fists.

I just have to walk away from him and I do.

**(Crumbelina's POV)**

I watched Alden walk outside. His face focused on the path he was walking. "Hey Preppy I'm not done." Reed says walking after him. Alden was outside and everyone just followed. We didn't know what to do. Rancis took Vanellope out on a picnic and none of the security officers were here.

Reed stops Alden. "Really just gonna walk away, huh? C'mon be a man and hit me." Reed says arrogantly and smirks.

"Fine Reed, you wanna box? Let's box." Alden says fed up taking off his blazer and fedora and hands them to me. "I apologize in advance ladies." He says apologetic. Alden unbuttons the cuffs on his sleeves and rolls his sleeves up to his elbows.

"Okay, this is gonna be fun." Reed says cracking his knuckles with an arrogant smirk on his face. Alden gets a focused and determined look on his face and puts up his fists. Reed does the same but he still had that smug, arrogance written all over his face.

I was a little worried. Alden maybe taller than Reed but, Reed is a destructive force that is pure muscle and aggression. Alden is less muscular so Reed could easily hurt him easily by the looks of it. They start to circle each other and Reed says, "I can't wait to beat in that million dollar smile of yours pally."

"Here, I'll give you first shot. C'mon, hit me with whatever you got." Reed taunts and just like that Alden sent his left fist with great precision across Reed's face and Reed fell over. He looks back up at Alden in shock and disbelief.

Everyone watching couldn't believe it either. We were stunned that Alden could knock down Reed easily

Reed got up and said, "You can fight, huh Lord Lux?" "I'm trained in the noble art of boxing." Alden informs. "That fancy stuff isn't my style. I do whatever gains me control." Reed says. "Well, show me then." Alden says.

They start to circle each other again and then Reed just tackles Alden to the ground and starts to punch him. But, Alden was able to toss him off and then he gets up and gives Reed a slight smirk but, I can see a few bruises on Alden's face and his lip was bleeding.

I've never seen this side of Alden but, it's kind of endearing seeing him as a stand up guy.

Reed was getting agitated. "Okay, are you quite finished, I'd like to get on with my day." Alden says. "No I'm not done…" Reed says angry and flustered as he runs up to him and tries to punch him. Alden dodged it and put his hands up and did two quick jabs to Reeds stomach and then gave him a right hook across the face. Reed fell over again and put his hand over his lip which was bleeding.

It's funny because Reed was not going into his state of rage. He actually looked at Alden like he sort of respected him.

Alden holds out his hand to help him up. Reed waves it away and gets up on his own. "You fight good." Reed says and holds out his hand. Alden takes it and shakes his hand. "I will admit you fight well too my good chap. Your style is a little unorthodox but, effective. But, I just want to make sure we can be on good terms now. I respect your will." Alden says. Reed shakes his hand again and says, "You don't fight too bad rich boy and I respect you. You got guts."

This is amazing and kind of insane. I think Alden is the first person to fully gain Reed's respect. This is weird but, I think Reed and Alden are friends or at the very least good allies.

**Didn't see that coming right? Also, if you were able to get the King and Duke reference refering to Elvis Presley and Duke Ellington; kudos! Thanks for reading and please review.**


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